I can smell snow. Most anyone that has spent a significant time in the North can smell snow. It's a change in the air just before it comes. I'm not sure my southern family believes snow can be predicted by scent, but it's absolutely true. And on the flip side...here in North Carolina... it smells like S-P-R-I-N-G!
It's now day four of Crocus Stalk 2010. This happens every year at about this time (well, Crocus Stalk happens...last year it was Crocus Stalk 2009, etc). Sometime in Mid-February, I start staring at the flower bed that runs down the front of my house - hoping, praying, urging for something to make an appearance. Just one little speck of a petal to help me believe that winter really won't last forever.
And boy, did I need it this year - phew!
I'll let my friends from the North just skip ahead now - go on....just pick back up further down where I give you a shout out.
We had a harsh winter here! I know this because, yet again, when I opened my gas bill today, there were three numbers next to the dollar sign instead of the traditional two that I've come to love and appreciate. We beat our average snow fall - of seven inches - for the season. I actually had no idea we even had an 'average snowfall' expectation until this year. I thought we only tracked droughts and humidity levels. Who knew!
I'll admit it, living in the South means you get to play up the snow a little bit. True, we are short on plows. True, we don't have an unlimited supply of Brine for the roads. True, there are plenty of people that live in the south that don't drive well in rain, let alone snow. And after living here for ten years, I'm becoming one of them. Turns out, it's not like riding a bike at all. Unless that bike has no tubes on its rims and you are treking down a mountain of olive oil.
And let's not forget the ice storm of two-thousand-something - when most of Raleigh (including yours truly) spend up to 12 hours at a dead stop on the major highways after a freak afternoon storm.
(Northern Friends...here's your shout out...you can start reading again).
This is why Crocus Stalk is extra exciting this year - after record breaking strings of freezing days...we are finally turning the corner! My Crocus Flowers have tried twice to come up this year - only to be stomped back down by Old Man Winter. This weekend, they really went for it. All along the front path, tiny sprout of green are sneaking through the mulch aiming heavenward. Oh, a sight for my wintery eyes!
And with the Crocus comes open windows, slid-back sunroofs, car washes, cleaner garages...and the Smell of Spring! It's fresher and cleaner and warmer and grassier. Spring makes me motivated - it's the only time during the year that I feel okay about sending shoes and purses to Goodwill; it's one of the handful of tiems each year that I really clean the kitchen floor (like hands and knees clean); it's when I return to a regular shaving schedule.
You might think after reading all this that Spring is my favorite season. Hell no, I say. I'm actually the biggest fan of summer - and Spring is just my first glimpse to the days of heat and humidity. Mind you, my motivation level drops significantly when it's 100 degress and 90% humidity - but man, I love that heat.
Now that Crocus Stalk 2010 has been marked a success, I'll move into Daffodil Watch. Soon to be followed by Roses, Lantanas, Lilies, Marigolds and more - oh, the smells of Spring...welcome back, my friend!
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