The Ugly Of Spring

- jim Young (20190323)

“To everything, turn, turn, turn,
There is a season, turn, turn, turn…”   
- Book of Ecclesiastes / Pete Seeger

I’m not sure what my favourite season is. It’s a toss up between summer, autumn and winter.

But I know what my least favourite season is. It’s spring.

Spring is ugly. Dirty and ugly.
I hate spring. There is nothing good about spring. It’s ugly, it’s dirty and it’s teasingly disappointing.

I get that some people don’t like winter but that’s no reason to delude themselves into thinking that they welcome spring.

Welcoming spring because it’s the step between a season you hate and a season you love is like welcoming a needle because it’s going to get rid of your pain.

The problem is, the needle will inflict more pain before it relieves the pain.

You really hate the needle as much as you hate the pain.

So why do so many people insist they love spring when all they really love is that winter is almost over?

It’s like your mother telling you that you have to eat your supper if you want dessert. That doesn’t make your supper any more appealing.  Why can’t you just skip supper and eat the dessert?

The ugly of spring is everywhere!
We don’t have an ugly season between summer and autumn, nor do we have an ugly season between autumn and winter. So why do we have to have an ugly season between winter and summer?

I haven’t seen any robins here yet but the raccoons and skunks that have come around to feed are a pretty good clue that spring has arrived. And I see the locals are tapping their Maple Trees. That’s another good sign.

The most visual indication that spring is here, however is the ugly that comes with spring. The ugly and the dirty. I can’t walk outside now without tracking in mud.

How can I get THAT clean?
I can’t drive down the road without my vehicle getting covered in slop. And it’s still too cold to get the hose out to clean it off! Even if I did - the damn doors would freeze shut as soon as the sun goes down.

I don’t know if more people slip and fall in winter or spring, but if you slip in the winter, at least you have snow to fall in - nice soft, fluffy, clean snow. In spring the warmer days are busy melting the snow and turning it into rock, hard ice that is mixed with mud and dirt.

Spring wants to kill you. Spring wants to kill you in a dirty ugly way.

The teasing of spring is just cruel too. It looks like I should be able to go outside without my jacket, but I can’t.

There is no escaping the ugly of spring!
It will soon look like I can run around outside in my bare feet, but I won’t be able to do that either until spring is gone.

Okay - so at my age I won’t actually be able to run around outside in the summer either, but at least I can walk around in my bare feet in summer.

I wish I could go into hibernation like so many of the animals do. If I had my way I would go into hibernation when spring arrived and I wouldn’t wake up until it was all over.

As a bonus, I would be better rested for the longer days of summer that are ahead.

- 30 -

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Published in the Great North Arrow, April 1, 2023: Vladdy's On First