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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Spring Fever

Open Thread: Spring Fever

by WaterGirl|  February 21, 20214:07 pm| 94 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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After two and a half weeks of zero (insert “degree” here) weather, we are finally going to reach 37 degrees today.  How quickly we bounce back – I am looking at the flower and vegetable catalogs today and thinking about Spring.

For me, Spring means gardening and flowers and vegetables.  How about you guys?

Totally open thread.

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Reader Interactions

94Comments

  1. 1.

    jeffreyw

    February 21, 2021 at 4:14 pm

    It’s 45 degrees here.  We were snowbound until yesterday which confounded us getting vaccinated.  There were openings Friday and Saturday but they were all gone when we got the drive plowed.

  2. 2.

    zhena gogolia

    February 21, 2021 at 4:15 pm

    I think spring will henceforth always be associated with the onset of the pandemic.

    But I’m looking forward to it nonetheless. We’ve been walking almost every day, even in cold weather (30s, not teens), and I’m looking forward to warm breezes and bunny rabbits hopping out of the bushes.

  3. 3.

    namekarB

    February 21, 2021 at 4:17 pm

    “Zero weather” ??? Never have I been anywhere that did not have any weather. The moon perhaps? Anyway, time to mow the lawn again in the Sacramento Valley

  4. 4.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 4:18 pm

    Damn. My box plant bed is still sitting in the driveway, waiting to be moved into location in February. Then it snowed. This was my first small scale venture into hugelkultur. All the branches and sticks and leaves are still lying around in the yard waiting to be put into the not-yet-in-place bed. Inauspicious start.

  5. 5.

    MagdaInBlack

    February 21, 2021 at 4:19 pm

    I sorta cleaned off the balcony, and accepted that the basil and oregano i was trying to baby thru the winter inside, are deceased. But the rosemary and sage are happy !.  Pinteresting garden designs, tho I have no garden now, someday I will again.

  6. 6.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 4:20 pm

    Jackals seem to mostly hate ads, but I like most of the ones I see except for the thong underwear. I love the urchin jug tho’ I doubt I would ever buy it.

  7. 7.

    raven

    February 21, 2021 at 4:21 pm

    Mid-upper 50’s . I took my hot rod truck for a ride through downtown, ya’ll would be horrified at the college kids and they wouldn’t care. UGA is playing baseball with very limited attendance but “the hill” outside the stadium is packed. My bride has her Sunday women’s group in her sitting garden and they are all appropriately distanced and masked (except when drinking their wine”. Bohdi continues to struggle and the meds are knocking him down so who knows?

  8. 8.

    maeve

    February 21, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    We were supposed to get up to 8 inches of snow but it turned out to be rain instead.  Still snow on the ground and freezing every night – be a while til we can garden.  thinking about starting indoor stuff but its a little early,  we can have freezes up through May sometimes. Average last frost is Apr 27 but it flucuates a lot around the average and we’ve had snow in April.  (Juneau, Alaska)

  9. 9.

    Phylllis

    February 21, 2021 at 4:22 pm

    Seeing the dogwoods & azaleas bloom. Never gets old for me. Also, it looks like MiLB will play this year, so hoping things will work out to get to a few games.

  10. 10.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 4:25 pm

    @raven: Mid 50s.Ohio here, up to mid 20s. I promise to laugh at you in July (when we laugh at BIL in Baton Rouge who laughs at us in winter, though not this year.)

  11. 11.

    Pete Downunder

    February 21, 2021 at 4:28 pm

    Here in the land down under at 7:30 am it is 24 C (about 76F) and will be 34 C (93F) later today. Of course it is summer here. Winters are brutal, some days it doesn’t even get to 75F.

  12. 12.

    Catherine D.

    February 21, 2021 at 4:28 pm

    Spring fever??? I’m dealing with ice dams and a chunk of collapsed kitchen ceiling with possibly more to come – despite raking the roof all month. Ptui, spring!

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    February 21, 2021 at 4:29 pm

    Our evergreen flowering pears, now four years old put on a show the last couple weeks and it now looks like snow with the fallen petals. Today it’s sunny and 60 (this weirdass year already featured 70s back in January). When does California’s fire season begin is perhaps the dominant weather-related question.

  14. 14.

    PsiFighter37

    February 21, 2021 at 4:30 pm

    I think the last of the weather in the 30s is leaving us this week; one day, it will make it up to 50 degrees. What I am sincerely hoping for is that California lightens their restrictions on travel (self-quarantine for 10 days upon arrival) soon…I would very much like to take the family out to see my grandmother again, as well as get some R&R somewhere close to the beach in SoCal. But we will see….can’t make travel plans further out pretty much for any good reason at this point. I do think we will likely end up spending our vacation in the summer back in New England again. I won’t complain about being in Maine and eating lobster for a couple weeks.

  15. 15.

    scav

    February 21, 2021 at 4:31 pm

    Spring?  How can we not mention the avid watching for the first sighting of UPS knees?!

  16. 16.

    zhena gogolia

    February 21, 2021 at 4:32 pm

    @Catherine D.:

    Ugh.

  17. 17.

    JPL

    February 21, 2021 at 4:32 pm

    It must be spring..    Buitengebieden on Twitter: “Can’t stop laughing.. ? https://t.co/zsxIyJf2NT” / Twitter

  18. 18.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 4:33 pm

    @Pete Downunder: But other days it does, and that is more brutal. I used to live in Las Vegas NV where my earrings would burn my ears in summer. And we weren’t even close to Phoenix AZ temps.

  19. 19.

    narya

    February 21, 2021 at 4:34 pm

    I was able to go for a run, so THAT was nice. But my friend has an ice dam that’s causing leaking in one of his rooms. This is around the 6th anniversary of a big plumbing leak he had, and around the 8th anniversary of another water leak caused by the heating system freezing. Water has not been his friend, especially in the old house he has.

  20. 20.

    japa21

    February 21, 2021 at 4:35 pm

    What is this Spring you of which you speaketh?

  21. 21.

    Pete Downunder

    February 21, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    @sab: ​
      Years ago I had to be in PHX on a case in July, it was like 125F. It felt like working in a pizza oven. Yes, it was a dry heat, but still. Admittedly here we do get some fierce humidly some times, but very rarely up to 100F. Outback Australia, on the other hand often gets into the high 120s F.

  22. 22.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 21, 2021 at 4:40 pm

    I for one look forward to the longer days with more daylight. It’s going to snow tomorrow. So spring right now feels like a distant dream.

  23. 23.

    Wag

    February 21, 2021 at 4:42 pm

    Spring means to start of climbing season, a chance to return to the high peaks in relative comfort.  It has been a difficult and unsettled winter in the high country, with an especially unstable snowpack, and too many needless deaths in colorado.

    And planting tomatoes.

  24. 24.

    Brachiator

    February 21, 2021 at 4:43 pm

    It’s 72 degrees outside here in Southern California.  I am having a very lazy day today, and have not been outside at all.

    I even ordered contactless delivery from a local Chinese restaurant.

  25. 25.

    Hungry Joe

    February 21, 2021 at 4:44 pm

    Third straight day of 70+ degrees (74.2 in the back yard). Peach tree is blooming, apricot tree has one green bud, kumquats are ripening, arugula taking  the opportunity to bolt. A perfect San Diego day if you can force yourself to ignore the drought.

  26. 26.

    JMG

    February 21, 2021 at 4:45 pm

    Here in Massachusetts, spring still seems a long way away. It got to 32 today. Supposed to get into the 40s starting on Tuesday. Hope so, the icicles on the house are getting kind of long, and they drip onto the front stoop causing ice buildups. But even in good years, spring doesn’t really start until mid-April.

  27. 27.

    WhatsMyNym

    February 21, 2021 at 4:46 pm

    Bloomberg says that: Exporters in Asia complain that rates to move freight to Europe or the U.S. jumped fivefold in the past year . (can’t link)

  28. 28.

    raven

    February 21, 2021 at 4:49 pm

    @sab: The midwest is no picnic in July.

  29. 29.

    CaseyL

    February 21, 2021 at 4:52 pm

    My strawberries seem to have made it through Seattle’s Snowmageddon, and I would like to get an enclosed plant stand to start some other veggies. I should grow carrots, since Gaia knows I eat enough of them.

    I feel restless for the first time in months, and maybe that’s my version of Spring Fever. Yesterday I really wanted to “do something” but couldn’t think of what (not great walking weather yesterday, and not much better today.)

  30. 30.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 4:52 pm

    @raven: NE Ohio beats GA hands down. We used to come up from FL and wear sweaters.

  31. 31.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    February 21, 2021 at 4:53 pm

    The front corner and back corner of my roof both had about 7 foot long ice behemoths hanging down from the gutter. I was able to lean out my upstairs windows with a long pole and knock those fuckers down this afternoon. That was deeply satisfying. Safety be damned.

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    February 21, 2021 at 4:53 pm

    @Catherine D.: Ugh.  I’m sorry to hear that.

  33. 33.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 21, 2021 at 4:54 pm

    @Pete Downunder:

    Whenever my Phoenix relatives haul out the old “But it’s a dry heat” line, my response is “So is cremation.”

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    February 21, 2021 at 4:56 pm

    Spring signals the difference between here and the east coast becoming six hours, which just seems more natural (as well as amenable to meshing with what little remaining wake/sleep schedule I maintain). Every year it takes weeks to become accustomed to the time difference becoming five hours in the fall; the change in spring takes all of one day at the max to become habituated to.

  35. 35.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 21, 2021 at 4:56 pm

    Well I just got back from a nice sunny walk on the lake in Central Park. Been a while since I’ve walked on water.

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    February 21, 2021 at 4:56 pm

    @japa21: Spring is just a pigment of my imagination at this point, but even imagining it is a step up from endless zero-degree weather.

  37. 37.

    Josie

    February 21, 2021 at 4:56 pm

    Yes. Spring means the trees and shrubs start to put out their little green leaves, and I can imagine the smell of the flowers.  I started my vegetables that I will grow in pots, since I no longer have a yard – eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and two kinds of basil.  I brought in my rosemary to save it from the freeze.  It will be happy to have some other pots to join it.

  38. 38.

    WaterGirl

    February 21, 2021 at 4:57 pm

    @Pete Downunder: You had a terribly hot summer last year, didn’t you?

  39. 39.

    jackmac

    February 21, 2021 at 4:57 pm

    I’m staring out my window in Chicago’s far western suburbs and watching the latest batch of snow arrive. That’s okay. I like snow and we’ve had plenty of it this winter.
    For me, the true harbinger of the change of seasons the the opening of MLB spring training workouts (which commence on Monday in Florida and Arizona). As COVID-19 hopefully recedes (I have my two vaccinations) and we return to a semblance of normal, I’m looking forward to going to a baseball game for the first time since September 2019.

  40. 40.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 4:57 pm

    Catloaf was a new term to me last week and it has changed my life.

  41. 41.

    debbie

    February 21, 2021 at 5:00 pm

    Above-freezing weather all next week will hopefully get rid of all the snow, and I can start walking every day again.

  42. 42.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 5:01 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: @Pete Downunder:

    My Ohio mother’s response (Airforce wife in San Antonio) was “Dry heat is still hot heat.” And she moved us to KY and FL without complaint.

  43. 43.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    February 21, 2021 at 5:02 pm

    A few weeks ago I did a walk around the house recording with the camera. My wife and I then went over the video in the comfort of the inside, while we reviewed the video and made notes of what chores ought to be done before spring really starts popping. I had thought the list might have 5-6 items on it. It filled an entire single-spaced page.

    So once the snow is melted for good, I pretty much know what I’m going to be doing with my March.

    Last fall I bought a little patio mini-greenhouse (basically wooden shelves with a heavy-duty plastic cover) and I’m going to try to start the seedlings sometime around early or mid March. Frost danger probably isn’t really over till well into April.

  44. 44.

    Ken

    February 21, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    @japa21:What is this Spring you of which you speaketh?

    An astronomical phenomena, of interest only to science geeks. In about four weeks the Sun will be directly over the equator, and about 90 days after that it will be as far north as it gets.

  45. 45.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    February 21, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    At this point, I’ll be thrilled just to walk outside again.

    We’ve been making a list of things to do once we’re two weeks past our second shot. I am super excited about a haircut. Less so about a shingles shot and visit to the dentist. Still, it’s getting out and seeing people. That’s good.

  46. 46.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 5:13 pm

    Found a metal comb, so I can safely trim the inherited cocker with scissors and without clippers. He’s covered in burdock burrs, but his fuzzy fur wrapped the burrs and protected him. He is a mess. He looks like a tiny bearded collie. Wouldn’t know there was a spaniel under there at all. We trimmed around his eyes because he couldn’t see and was tripping over things.

    I have issues with breeding dogs that can’t function without human intervention.

    Champ Biden is fine. Perhaps needs a brushing (is this a day ending in y with a GSD?)

    But my cocker cannot see out if I don’t trim him. This is weird and not okay. Very different from just shedding.

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    February 21, 2021 at 5:14 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I think you’re supposed to wait 4-6 weeks to get the shingles shot after another vaccinations.  That’s what the pharmacist told me last spring when I got my flu shot.

  48. 48.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 5:17 pm

    Talked to my baby (55 yo) gregarious sister, and she is mad for on line chat rooms. Where do you find these?

    Also too, she loves NK Jemison, as do I, but she is also scared of her. Razor sharp wit and NFLTG.

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    February 21, 2021 at 5:17 pm

    @sab: I used to take my cocker spaniel in for a “puppy cut” – he loved it and he didn’t collect everything in his hair like he wold have without the cut.

    I did it the first time out of necessity when he got out in February and somehow managed to get more burrs than I had ever seen in my life tangled up in his hair.  After that, I always got him the same cut.

  50. 50.

    Ruckus

    February 21, 2021 at 5:18 pm

    @JPL:

    That poor kid is going to be scarred for at least the next ten yrs.

    Still – it is hilarious. The good part is mom thinks it is as well.

  51. 51.

    opiejeanne

    February 21, 2021 at 5:21 pm

    @Pete Downunder: There is a point, around 110 F, where it is just too damned hot even if it is dry.

    It’s 51 right now, just outside Seattle, and tonight it’s going to fall all the way to 48.

    Last week we had a foot of snow, which was nice. It didn’t hang around but it was pretty while it lasted.

    We got a really heavy, wet snow in late March one year, and it took down trees which took down power lines. We lost power for a day and a half but we have a generator to keep the refrigerator going. There was no heat, though, so when it got below 45 we shoved the sofa up next to the fireplace, piled on blankets, and read and slept. The cats joined us so everyone was warm enough. I think it was in the 30s inside when the power came back.

  52. 52.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 5:23 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I put off my shingles shot a year, becauseCovid.  My 55 YO boss had a bad shingles outbreak last year. They said shot might knock you out for a day or two.

    Note to self. If shingles outbreaks get treated immediatley so it doesn’t creep up your nerves to do more damage elsewhere.

  53. 53.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 5:25 pm

    @opiejeanne: Above body temperature (98.6 or wherever) heat gets a lot hotter fast. Drink water. Don’t drink sodas. Don’t drink booze.

  54. 54.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 5:28 pm

    @WaterGirl: My cocker hates the dog groomer. He shudders when I put him in the car. I made him do it before Covid, but we stopped going when I saw all those maskless young people in steam trimming my dog. Afraid to bring him into the house afterwards.

  55. 55.

    raven

    February 21, 2021 at 5:31 pm

    @sab: I bought really good Andis clippers when we first had Raven and used them all the way with Lil Bit.

  56. 56.

    raven

    February 21, 2021 at 5:32 pm

    @sab: I got em in my eye when I was finishing my dissertation!

  57. 57.

    Another Scott

    February 21, 2021 at 5:33 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I remember attending a conference on The Strip in Las Vegas years ago.  And getting shocked whenever I touched anything metal outside (like the door handle of the rental car).

    Ow!!  :-/

    It is indeed a “dry heat”, but I’m not sure that’s so great!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    February 21, 2021 at 5:35 pm

    @sab: Two thoughts on that, for what it’s worth.  Try a place that just has one groomer, or someone who works out of their home.

    Also the “puppy cut” is much faster than standing there while they comb out all that long hair.

    So much easier to keep them clean, which was good for our relationship.  He loved being petted when his hair was super short because he could actually feel it on his skin, and he was so much happier.

    If you decide to try it once, let me know how it goes.

  59. 59.

    JPL

    February 21, 2021 at 5:37 pm

    @Ruckus:  My grand imp is afraid of the guy with the beard, so no talking bunnies for him.   it is funny though.

  60. 60.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    @WaterGirl: He has always had puppy cuts. Cute guy but not a show dog. I will try a smaller groomer. Thanks for good suggestion.

  61. 61.

    MomSense

    February 21, 2021 at 5:42 pm

    I came home to find an incredibly big icicle – hanging off the north side roof on my house.  I don’t think I can pull it down without taking the roofing shingles with it.
    All I can think about is being back in a tiny cabin on the lake.  It was so peaceful.

  62. 62.

    J R in WV

    February 21, 2021 at 5:43 pm

    @Pete Downunder:

    Years ago I had to be in PHX on a case in July, it was like 125F. It felt like working in a pizza oven. Yes, it was a dry heat, but still.

    Blast furnaces are a dry heat, which you will not notice as you evaporate in the very high heat!! No desire to spend time in AZ in the summer time. Have felt overheated in Tucson in March on occasion.
    Haven’t spent any time in Phoenix but for attending a bowl game there in the long ago with my dad, who took the whole family to WVU bowl games for all his life. Were some great times! Win or lose a bowl game is big fun for everyone who likes College football.
    We lost a big game in NOLA, didn’t care, it was New Year’s Eve in New Orleans, one of our favorite cities. Bourbon street on New Years Eve!!!! Such great music if you find the right club…
    Back to on topic:
    For Spring: The trees blooming, tiny scarlet blooms on maple trees, big white blooms on dogwoods and Sarvice Berry trees, so many different shades of green on early leaves. Tiny flowers on the ground, bushes in bloom. Can’t wait!! That’s what I’m waiting for now. The rush of spring blooming and leaves!​

  63. 63.

    Splitting Image

    February 21, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    Spring means a return to daylight savings time, which will deprive me of an hour of being glad that Rush Limbaugh is dead.

    Seriously, I’m another one looking forward to walking outside again. The weather here has been just cold enough for snowfall and just warm enough for the snow to melt into treacherous ice sheets on the sidewalks, so it will be good to get back to a couple of degrees above freezing when I can walk safely in the rain.

  64. 64.

    Spanky

    February 21, 2021 at 5:50 pm

    Just came in from chopping the ice on/in the front gravel walk. It’s been 35 degrees here in balmy Southern MD, so I thought I’d take a crack at breaking it up after it melted down a bit today.

    Last week’s ice storm morphed into a sleet storm, which then partially melted and froze into a solid block. Roads are dry, as are the cars. Driveway is a rutted mess o’ ice, so drivable and semi-walkable. Tomorrow promises more sleet/rain, but Tues and Weds should reach the 50s, so the ice should be gone by Thurs.

  65. 65.

    Suzanne

    February 21, 2021 at 5:51 pm

    @Pete Downunder:

    Years ago I had to be in PHX on a case in July, it was like 125F. It felt like working in a pizza oven. Yes, it was a dry heat, but still. 

    It’s terrible. It’s so dry your nose bleeds and your skin cracks and everything burns.

    Arm is still a bit sore but much less so than yesterday.

  66. 66.

    opiejeanne

    February 21, 2021 at 5:54 pm

    @sab: I know. We lived in Riverside, CA, where early fall temps regularly hit 110 and higher. Usually that was the week when we couldn’t run the AC because of brown-outs, and we couldn’t open the windows in the evening when it cooled off because all of the skunks in our neighborhood were promenading and advertising.

  67. 67.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    February 21, 2021 at 5:54 pm

    Days are getting longer and the sun really sparkles on fresh snow.

    As they say, if you take no joy in the snow, you have less joy in your life but the same amount of snow.

    Spring will come.

  68. 68.

    sab

    February 21, 2021 at 5:56 pm

    In defense of Champ Biden’s owners. GSDs are the ultimate wash them twice a year whether they need it or not dog. Brush them all the time. Wash them hardly ever. Anyone who washes a GSD in Febuary has lost their mind and does not deserve to have that dog ( barring skunks and other catastrophes.

    ETA skunks in February in DC not likely.

  69. 69.

    FlyingToaster

    February 21, 2021 at 6:00 pm

    We got 6″ of snow W-F, so no, we aren’t feeling Spring quite yet up heah in the Frozen North.

    I’m not going to try to start anything from seed this year; I have too many deferred (by the pandemic) repairs to various aspects of the house (bathrooms, side stairs) and yard (side fence, front fence, the gigantic mess above the retaining wall).

    Plus, next month I am trading in the current minivan (2007 Sienna Limited, purchased when I was 4 months pregnant with WarriorTeen) for the modern version, which is hybrid.  No more 11mpg and leaky fucking tires.  (Must descend to basement this week and disinter my title).

    In May the local estates (Gore Place, Lyman, etc.) have plant sales, and I have upgright greehouse stands (plant stands with clear zip-on covers) that I’ll put in the garden once the effin stairs are replaced.  I rarely plant anything before Memorial Day, because the ground is too damn cold.

  70. 70.

    opiejeanne

    February 21, 2021 at 6:01 pm

    @J R in WV: We’re watching the buds on our fruit and Japanese maples and are telling them not to swell just yet. The cherry trees got snapped hard last year, and we lost a nice forsythia*

     

    *just watched Contagion again; forsythia will cure it!.

  71. 71.

    Another Scott

    February 21, 2021 at 6:04 pm

    Speaking of springtime, and schools, and such…

    Trump is a WWC machine…. and the GOP won't walk away from him because of that. I keep saying college debt relief is a BAD IDEA……this is why.

    Get out your bubbles and do some research. pic.twitter.com/KBojv4tUEe

    — IUOE AFL-CIONewDemocrat4ever (@reesetheone1) February 21, 2021

    Something something danger of lying with statistics something something.

    But something to think about and develop a good answer for. Maybe this is one reason why Biden is (publicly) Ok with $10k but not $50k in college debt relief? Dunno.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  72. 72.

    J R in WV

    February 21, 2021 at 6:05 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Arm is still a bit sore but much less so than yesterday.

    Me too, we must have gotten our shots within a few hours of one another. Ours were at 1:55, a 1:50 appointment, 5 minutes to check in. Outta there at about 2:12. County seat was totally shut down, no power, no phones, no water, but the clinic (only health care in the whole county) was running on two big diesel Kohler generators, one for each building.

    They said they could do ~150 vaccinations a day, depending upon supply and demand. Pretty good for a very small rural center. Hope the supply and demand yield a set up at the high school with 10 times as many vaccination, but won’t hold my breath to see it.

  73. 73.

    Geminid

    February 21, 2021 at 6:05 pm

    Spring means that I get to/have to get back to work. I took the winter off, letting some aching  parts heal up, reading history, crime novels and westerns, and whiling away time on a silly blog. After a rainy Monday, I’ll be working every day this week, but not too hard. The week after, I’ll start a good sized bluestone patio that will pretty much take up March. I’ve been looking forward to it. Paving is a physical challenge, but I won’t be in a hurry on this one and should be OK. Then I’ll have some maintenance and planting for some old customers, and some time to camp. I’m looking forward to seeing people again, especially some friends I’ll be helping out.                                                                  I find that I am somewhat solar powered psychically, so the longer days raise my spirits.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    February 21, 2021 at 6:08 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Tell folks about “Monsoon Season.” They need to know before making that regrettable midwinter “fuck it I’m moving to the desert” decision. :-)

  75. 75.

    japa21

    February 21, 2021 at 6:08 pm

    Just want people to know, I am looking out my window watching heavy snow fall. So yeah, spring would be nice, but not happening yet.

  76. 76.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 21, 2021 at 6:10 pm

    Hopefully spring means Rethuglicans own the libs by cleaning out their bank accounts for the blue states.

    If you're a Republican who thinks that Democrats are only raising money for Texas to make Republicans look bad, I'd be happy to give you a list of people in need in blue states so you can own the libs with some donations of your own.— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) February 20, 2021

  77. 77.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 21, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    @opiejeanne:

    we couldn’t open the windows in the evening when it cooled off because all of the skunks in our neighborhood were promenading and advertising 

    Extra! Extra!  Stink all about it!

  78. 78.

    feebog

    February 21, 2021 at 6:18 pm

    Probably going to piss a few people off, but I just got back from the driving range.  Its 76 and a tad windy, but good enough to get out and enjoy the SoCal sunshine.  Tuning up for 18 holes on Tuesday, forecast is for 80 and breezy.

  79. 79.

    Suzanne

    February 21, 2021 at 6:20 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I am looking forward to getting new glasses, getting a pedicure, maybe enjoying outdoor live music this summer.

  80. 80.

    JanieM

    February 21, 2021 at 6:20 pm

    Away from the computer all day (amazing!) and haven’t read the whole thread, but here in the coldest microclimate in Kennebec County (central Maine), there are a few precious milestones.

    1. The lake across the road, which can get as much as 2 feet of ice on it (and where the snowmobilers and ice fisherpeople have been having a gay old time these past couple of weeks), thaws. From my arrival here in 1987 through about 2009, ice-out was within the month of April. A couple of times since then it has been earlier. The date bounces around a lot regardless. That’s the biggest psychological lift of the year, the day I can look out my window and see not ice, but water sparkling in the sunshine.
    2. Spring peepers wake up, roughly when most of the ice is gone. One sings one night, and the next night the whole vast chorus is awake.
    3. The grass greens up in mid-April. A sight for sore eyes.
    4. The trees leaf out in mid-May.
    5. Lilacs.

    Summer.

  81. 81.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 21, 2021 at 6:22 pm

    @feebog: And then Wednesday you suck all the bags of unsalted dicks? ?

  82. 82.

    Suzanne

    February 21, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    @trollhattan: Naaaah, I have told enough people that the desert is fucken unliveable, then they tell me “Oh, but I love heat!”, and I shrug and say, “You think so, eh?”. Then they experience the second half of a Phoenix summer and they say, “Well, I didn’t mean like THAT. That’s just CRAZY heat.” And I think, “no shit”.

    Phoenix: where it gets 20 degrees hotter than the heat that you like, AND it has dust storms from hell as a bonus! Have a sunburn. And a flood for good measure. Here’s some heatstroke. Forgot your water bottle, didn’t ya?

    I will say the nonstop hydration is a habit I will likely never lose.

  83. 83.

    Suzanne

    February 21, 2021 at 6:31 pm

    @Another Scott: There’s much to be said for student debt relief as a way of paying back the constituents who, you know, voted for you. Student debt relief will have the most positive effect for minority borrowers, not to mention the college graduates that he won, by a lot.

    I don’t think that only children of rich people should go to college.

    Having said that, I think a significant restructuring could be just as meaningful. But the idea that we shouldn’t do it because white working class people don’t like it? Fuck that.

  84. 84.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 21, 2021 at 6:31 pm

    @Suzanne: “I love feeling like my bones are sweating!”

  85. 85.

    karen marie

    February 21, 2021 at 6:52 pm

    @WaterGirl: I second the “puppy cut” motion. Spaniels have a high maintenance coat when not kept short. Even then, they need a bath at least every two weeks. They’re greasy dogs, and thus dirt magnets. Mine is filthy after a week.  Groomers tend to leave the legs and feet the same length as the body, so I instruct to shave them close to reduce burr pickup.

  86. 86.

    Dan B

    February 21, 2021 at 6:53 pm

    Transplanted a pricey double Hellebore that was being slowly killed by the Eucalyptus and removed a couple dark purple/black ones that just don’t do it for me I  February.  53 and breezy or gusty here in soouth Seattle.  Saw neighbors again!

    Went to friends for dinner in their first floor former woodshop.  14 foot ceilings and a garage door at the front that they opened a couple times.  I felt rusty for dinner conversation but it was great to be out.  My partner and our friend T had had their second jabs that morning so it felt like a sign of the end of a long dark and fearful period.

    We still shared the latest good masks – Well Before KN95!  Best fit and thicker than others.  And I brought some very high quality LED’s for my friend’s graphic design work.  They’re most valuable in winter so it was time, in the nick of time since in 8 weeks we’ll be at 14 hours of daylight.

  87. 87.

    Gvg

    February 21, 2021 at 6:57 pm

    It is spring here now in Florida. Camellias are still blooming (winter) but redbuds and azaleas are starting. Mom’s tulips are almost done. Warm enough that I didn’t even wear a sweater and I hate being cold. Pollen is starting and so are allergies. Broccoli was starting to bolt and I had to harvest most of it quick. It has also been rainy so far which is good but unusual. Our springs can be dryish. I need to order more seeds and find fertilizer. Snow storms in the rest of the county have interrupted deliveries.

  88. 88.

    cintibud

    February 21, 2021 at 7:00 pm

    In my part of Ohio (Cincinnati) we have had snow, then sleet then more snow. The result was PERFECT conditions for five straight days of cross-country skiing in one of largest urban forest in the US – Mt Airy Forest. We usually drive 5 – 7+ hrs to ski on forest trails, now we were able to “backcountry” ski 10 minutes from my house! My XC skiing friends from across town confirmed my belief that it was prettier than some of the WV and MI places we travel too. I’ve been visiting the park for 30 years but haven’t even skied next to the roads in years due to an extreme lack of snow.

    Could have made it six days in a row today but I am way too sore.

    So glad I could do that otherwise I would be going crazy in the house.

  89. 89.

    Skepticat

    February 21, 2021 at 7:24 pm

    @sab: ETA skunks in February in DC not likely.

    Or at least not the four-legged kind. There are many more of the two-legged version than I’d like, however.

  90. 90.

    mvr

    February 21, 2021 at 8:20 pm

    Starting some different varieties of broccoli, cauliflower, broccoli raab and eggplants under a grow light in a homemade lamp hanging fixture. Will start tomatoes in a week or so. I gather the first two can go in the ground before the end of frost weather. Not that I know when that is anymore – used to be May 15th but . . . Trying to grow fewer tomatoes in a new bed because the blight has gotten into the soil and you have to rest it longer than my remaining lifetime to get rid of it apparently.

    Oh and it did get above freezing today even though it continued to snow.

  91. 91.

    kindness

    February 21, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    Out here in the Central Valley of Ca I mowed my lawn today for the 1st time this year.  In February.   Damn.

  92. 92.

    J R in WV

    February 21, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    We have had 15 degree nights and 20-25 degree days for a week, until yesterday, when it got up to 36. Today may have been 40-ish, but there’s still lots of snow on the ground. Power went out Sunday evening, and we ran out of water pressure around Wednesday, bottles since then.

    But Friday evening, after an expedition to the local Primary Care Clinic (turn right, go 17 miles) and then back into town (35 miles or so from the Clinic) to get more bottled water and food at Kroger’s, then when we got home, the light was on, the generator was silent!! Hurray, we made it thru to the other side.

    Spring — flowering trees, peepers, someone else mentioned that, we have 5 or 6 different species of frogs that reproduce in our tiny front door pond. Toads too, later on in the season. Ferns sprouting, bushes blooming, trees leafing out… wonderful to live through!! The peepers may be the best… what a sound in the early spring. I’ll let you all know when that happens.

  93. 93.

    StringOnAStick

    February 21, 2021 at 9:25 pm

    We’re between ice and mud here in central Oregon; I want a pair of ice cleats since the only ways down to the river trail are scary, but once you are down there, it’s mostly ice free.

    We walked down to the commercial zone, and we passed by a restaurant – packed with people; WTF?  I realize this town is dependent on tourism and word has it that the hotels and short term rentals are all packed, so I guess it figures.

    No veggies for me this year, I need to learn the local climate plus the exterior is getting painted and the existing raised beds are very close to the house so anything growing is likely to get stomped. I made the decision after looking online and realized I can’t get the cucumber and bean varieties l have had such good luck with in short season areas.  Covid is still messing with the home gardening market.  So, farmers markets it is this year!

  94. 94.

    Chris T.

    February 22, 2021 at 3:19 am

    Arizona is full of Republicans, but don’t worry, it’s a dry hate.

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