Spring is HERE!!!

WHEN: March 20, 2010
WHERE: The Northern Hemisphere

It's not just meteorological, it's official. Spring is here and it is BEAUTIFUL!! I don't really know where to begin, with all that Spring has brought with it this weekend! The warmth, the sun, the aromas...the possibilities!

 

Friday was my last day working in the trailers outside at work. It was bittersweet as I had about the best seat in the "house" out there. We move back in to the renovated building tomorrow and I will miss looking out my window at the ships going up and down the harbor. Thankfully, Friday went out with a bang - one of the busiest days I've seen on the harbor (blame it on Spring). It was sunny and 72 on Friday and there was spring fever on the harbor; from the Navy, to international shipping lines, to tour boats, to pleasure boaters. The harbor was alive. Perhaps what was most exciting about it was a container ship I had discovered online months ago. The name of this ship... the "Maersk Iowa". What had caught my eye was its homeport: Norfolk, VA. Maersk-Sealand is the largest shipping company in the world, with its own terminal in Norfolk; visible 2 miles down the harbor. I figured eventually it would be in Norfolk and I was going to go see it when it did! I saw Iowa on the marine traffic radar first thing when I got in to work and could hardly believe my eyes.

Maersk Iowa (958ft) in Norfolk Harbor on Friday

The Navy cargo ship, USS Wally Schirra (689ft), passed by while I was at lunch as did several tour boats throughout the day; including one flying a pirate flag. It was a entertaining last day on the water.

Friday night Stace and I walked to Schlotzsky's for dinner and enjoyed the "last day of winter" (good riddance)!!

 

Good morning Spring!! I had to put our Virginia plates on our Camry before I could enjoy the pleasures of this first day of Spring. The plates really (legally) should have been on over 3 weeks ago but for multiple reasons (including laziness) I have not done so or been unable to. I drove the Camry to Ace Hardware (with the sunroof open and windows down of course) to get the necessary parts to mount the plates. As I was pulling out of the parking lot a lady pulled in to the spot next to me driving this...

Having attended East Carolina University (Pirates) and still living within a region familiar with the school, I inquired from one open window to another, "Did you go to ECU?" She laughed and said she gets that a lot. Her answer was 'no' but instead offered a simple, "We just really love the water". I liked this stranger already! She continued to explain their affinity for life on the water while I glanced at all the pirate bumper stickers plastered on the windows and bumpers. Ironically, I had just installed our plates of similar expression on our other car last weekend (see below). Virginia has over 600 license plates to choose from, including many universities from across the country.

As I write this blog (Sunday afternoon), the plates are still not installed. Priorities. What?

Stace and I headed off to the beach to join the congregating spring crowds. I brought my bike to travel the 3-mile boardwalk while Stace sat on the beach reading her book. When we left our house for the beach it was 76° but out on the water (which is around 49°) the temperature felt about 55 (without the wind chill). The wind made bicycling less than enjoyable and Stace hypothermic (at least she thought so).

Stace's "wind-block" I built her :)

Even still, we stayed for 2 hours and enjoyed as much as we could. Virginia Beach is not what I'd call an in-demand Spring Break destination but yesterday sure didn't seem that way. There were thousands of (mostly) pasty-white bodies, sporting bikinis and other garb not fit for the elements of a frigid beach.

 

The official high was 78 on Saturday and not any semblance of a cloud was to be seen all day. We spent the rest of the day at home, reading on our deck and watching 'New Moon' - the latter being the low point of the day :)

The day was missing something though. Well, besides a Willy Wonka ticket in my king-size Snickers. I'm talking competition. I'm talking March Madness! But I will be the last one caught watching basketball. Even as the UNI Panther's game against Kansas began, I was busy sorting the 160 pictures I took this weekend and beginning work on this blog. Stacie, not surprisingly, was locked to our computer watching every minute of the game. I say computer because all we saw broadcast here was the Old Dominion vs. Baylor game (ODU is the main university in Norfolk; the team UNI beat before the tournament began). The game was streamed live online and we watched (I listened) every minute of the game. I told Stace from the beginning of the day that UNI would play great against Kansas but still lose by less than 5 points. I couldn't dedicate my time to a game like that. Not with a blog to write, people! (Sad. Blogging has become my new biggest waste of time...and I have no shortage of other things that could assume that spot if permitted).

You all know how the game ended, but let's just say we didn't care about decibel levels with our screams of excitement. Take THAT annoyingly loud and inconsiderate neighbors! Living in apartments has made me a firm believer of 'two wrongs make a right'.

We are probably among only a handful of people (at best) in a city of 2 million that are alumni and fans of these "University of Northern Iowa Panthers". We had to show our Panther Pride today somehow. Logically church was our first chance to show off our pride in a public setting. I pulled out my dusty UNI t-shirts and we both wore one to church. We ran a few errands on our way home as well and I caught a couple of prolonged glances our way. I have kept out my UNI shirts to wear throughout the week at work. Hopefully they will be of the same celebratory use after the next round on Friday.

Interview back at the McLeod Center this morning.

Today promised to be another gorgeous Spring day! Everything one would associate with Spring was on display today. The sky was a brilliant blue, the sun was beaming what felt like its brightest, all matter of bird calls filled the air, and the air itself was filled with so many inviting aromas. Lawn mowers and weedwackers were out on their first swing of the season and fresh-cut grass was a welcome scent. So were the endless number of flowers and blooming trees. There were even the occasional annoying bugs flying through the air (and apartment) which I found bearable given the amazing week we have been having. The average temperature the past four days has been 73 and I think I may have seen one cloud. We are due for thunderstorms tomorrow but I can accept that after a weekend like this one! Not to mention I get to start work in a brand new cubicle tomorrow then fly home to Iowa in 12 days.

I leave you with these images of Spring. I could get used to this!