I feel like I can breathe again

Dear Blog Reader

I hope that this finds you doing well. I am fine. I have identified the green tinge in the lawn as chlorophyll. I can already feel the oxygen levels starting to come up. Isn’t that the way with March; waiting for the winter to break? It is like we can finally breathe again.

I am very excited. Not as excited as the homeowner that I saw on my bike ride. On the way out he had his lawn tractor and trailer out. He was out picking up the twigs that had fallen from the trees during the winter. He had a pair of those extendo-grabs and was doing his thing up and down his yard. An hour later, on my return trip, he was mowing the lawn. Good for you Mr. Good House Keeping Seal guy. You really have to stay on top of that early spring growth. You wouldn’t want the dog poo patches to get out of hand with their extra burst of nitrogen stoked growth. Nor should you overtax your mighty mowing machine. Those sharp whirring blades would never cut through those pencil sized twigs. I suppose that he was trying to protect me and other passersby. One of those pencil sized twigs could come flying across his yard and put an eye out. His concern is admirable.

I also admire his stamina. I still remember the early warmth of two years ago when I too was cutting grass in March. My mower was lobbying to stop cutting the grass in September. “You need to let the grass get a little long in the fall. It stores up nutrients and develops the root system to get you through the winter.”

That zealous grass cutter wasn’t the only sign of spring this morning. I heard and witnessed a giant flock of sandhill cranes migrating probably 500 feet overhead while riding down a pothole strewn back road on my 2 hour bike ride this afternoon. Nature’s airport was doing brisk business today. I saw a groundhog come out of his hole this morning. He looked suspiciously tanned. I believe that he left town on February 3^rd for warmer zip codes. Now six weeks later, he came breezing back into town. I chuckle at the homeowner’s exuberance. I hate the ground hog.

Speaking of that early warm spring of two years ago that I mentioned a couple of paragraphs ago, tomorrow’s 71 degrees can cause hot flash backs. I could see you getting nervous. You are afraid to leave the flannels on too long. What happens if the overnight temps stay too high and you suddenly catch on fire? Chill out. (hah) You aren’t going to suddenly burst into flame.

Stay hydrated. There will be more cold weather. The stretches of cold will shorten, the warm stretches will lengthen. The time will come but you must be strong now. The weather gods are toying with you. They are waiting for you to get out of balance; starting to trust in the warm weather. As soon as you change to the cotton sheets, the cold will come slamming in and the apple crop will be ruined. So stay strong, it will all work out. My apple cider fix is relying on you. It is pretty unbelievable, but I have only eaten Indiana apples since September of 2013. So we are relying on you to keep your flannels on so that the weather gods won’t mess with us and slam us with a late spring frost or freeze.

You may be wondering “what is the best part of winter suddenly breaking and those first few days of warmer weather?” It could be the fact that I am happy that the wood supply lasted throughout the winter. It was close. I will probably cut a little bit more this coming fall. That is great but what I like most off all is riding up the drive on my bike quietly enough that the dog doesn't stir. He was stretched out on the grass soaking in the sun and  I waited for him to take that deep contented breath.

It’s going to be okay.

Take Care.

Roger.