Now that our January "thaw" is behind us and we're back in the throes of winter, Spring fever is starting to gnaw at me more every day. As some of you listeners know, I moved to Duluth from Florida where I spent about 8 years. Before that, there were 10 years in California, and before THAT, another 3 years in Florida. So winter was something I hadn't dealt with for awhile. I was no stranger to cold and snow, however, having grown up in Minneapolis and spending several years on the Range.
One thing I did forget about, though, was the anticipation of warmer weather in the Spring. Something to look forward to that keeps you going. One Spring, my wife Connie and I were visiting relatives in Minnesota when we lived in California. I couldn't believe the flurry of activity. "Let's go boating!" "Let's go on a picnic!", etc. People were running around with golf clubs and tennis rackets and talking about the bar-b-cue that night. Whew!
That's when I remembered. First, you have to get in as many outdoor activities as you can during the all-too-short warm months. And, all that pent-up anticipation that you've stored up all winter finally can be released. I bought an old motorcycle this fall. I can't wait to get on it again. In places like California, you take the climate for granted after awhile. I found I was riding my motorcycle less and less as time went by. Thinking "there's always tomorrow", or waiting for it to get a couple of degrees warmer. A friend of mine is a real golf nut. He moved to Florida to be able to play year-round.He's lived there for about five years now. I asked him recently how his golf game was. He hadn't played in almost 6 months. It was always too hot, or there were too many tourists on the course, or traffic was bad.
I remembered how great it was when the warm weather started to break and you could do some of the things you really loved again. things that you had spent the last 3 or 4 months daydreaming about. The anticipation makes sitting through winter worth it. Kinda.
