Speedily Springing Spring

WHEN: Spring 2010 WHERE: US southeast SPRING IS HERE!!! (Or at least it's Wicked Winter crying wolf). The eastern half of the country has been pleasantly (and deservingly) surprised by the spring-like weather this week. It has been yet another harsh, unforgiving winter and most are pining for spring more then most recent winters. We have seen at least 5 snow events this winter here in Norfolk (the latest, a dusting, just 7 days ago - in March). Any amount of snow here is a rarity. Though the snowfall total was less than 10" here for the whole winter, areas north of us (e.g. DC, Baltimore) saw their snowiest winters on record; breaking the previous records by mid-February and measuring snowfall in feet! As of yesterday, the temperature has been below average 51 days or 75% of the time since January 1 (86% during the month of February) in Norfolk. In Minneapolis, at least one inch of snow has been on the ground since December 9 and at least 6 inches of snow was on the ground from December 21 - March 7. Remember your first snowfall during the second week in October?? But the grass has now returned and the mercury topped 45 Sunday for the first time since December 1. Get your lawn mowers ready "minn-eh-SO-tens!

Snow cover on February 13. Nobody was safe from this winter!

I could bore you with more depressing numbers but let's get on to the good stuff!

Thankfully March has turned the page on this madness! Saturday marked the beginning of the warm-up here and Sunday followed suit. There were no clouds to be found and temperatures reached the upper 50's (which was only average but felt like a heat wave). Stace and I were tired of being locked inside so we headed out Sunday afternoon for a stroll in the park. The park...Mount Trashmore. It is as it sounds. A former landfill, now a grass hill replete with trails, playgrounds, skate park, lake, paddle boat rentals (seasonal), and picnic shelters. It is the most visited park in Virginia Beach and quite conveniently 1/2 mile from our apartment. It is also the highest point within an hours drive, at a whopping 60 feet high. Hey, when you live on the coastal plain, ant hills are "terrain". Mount Trashmore is that lone strawberry on your morning pancake, so to speak. In fact, it is the "spot" (and the only spot) to sled whenever it snows but is illegal and often patrolled by police when the rare snow storm hits. The cops must have been busy this winter! Sidenote: my brother-in-law (Jay) and his family used to live in Virginia Beach during the 1980's. When Jay was 3, his parents took him and his siblings to Mount Trashmore for the July 4th fireworks. The fireworks were set off on top of the hill and Jay and his family sat right at the foot of the hill during the show. Jay was terrified from the fireworks going off in front of him and made him scared of them for years to come. His older brother teases him to this day about it.

Time to walk up the pile of crap.

Everyone and their dog was out (literally). The park is dog-friendly and we saw our fair share of canines during our visit. The park is also a favorite for kite-fliers and stationed military who use the hills and trails for exercise. We met "Oscar" (boy, left) and "??" (girl, right) while we were there. The girl was 5 months old and as content and calm as ever for our attention. Oscar, on the other hand, growled and barked at every dog that passed by (big surprise)!

Groovy contrails man. Yeah!

And the temperatures have been rising since Sunday. Yesterday, Stace thought we should go on a walk (our first of the spring) and we did as soon as we got home from work.

Stace, unexcited that I was bringing my camera on the walk (doesn't she know by now?)

They finally installed the appliances in our courtyard's grill area yesterday (they said it would be done last November). I haven't grilled since August and I might just go b-a-n-a-n-a-s if I don't get to, pronto!

The flowers miraculously survived this winter and smelled like a million bucks.

We were both thrilled to be surprised by some flowering trees on our walk.

SPRING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?!

Today the high was 74 so we couldn't resist another walk. The aroma of fresh flowers, sea salt, and warm pavement filled the air and begged me to forfeit all concentration at work. Why am I working indoors on a day like today?? Why am I in slacks when I should be in my Speedo at the beach? It's supposed to remain in the mid-60's through the weekend but with a soggy forecast so our walks may be over for a while. Nevertheless, this week has been just what we (and the rest of the country) have been needing so badly after the past 3 months of this winter! And to top it all off, Sunday is daylight-savings!! In a psychologic way, that day may be my favorite day of the year.

Highs today

Belated, slow-coming, or premature...welcome back SPRING!!!