spring blossoms

“Driving back from the U.P. Saturday, I noted several things blooming that guarantee it's spring in the Northwoods: $1,000 kayaks on $500 vans, 4-sale snowmobiles in front yards, and the ribcages and spines of roadkilled deer in the ditches.

What signals spring in your neck of the woods?”

“RFLMAO Yeah, pekka, Spring has sprung here in the U.P.!

You know how people rest the back of a snowmobile on a block of wood to keep the track from freezing to the ground? Well my friend from the South thought it was hysterical how we Yoopers have snowmobiles *up on blocks*. The Northern version of a red neck, I guess. lol”

“The temp goes from a comfy 35 deg. to 70 deg. in one day.”

“Having to rinse a 1/4 inch of yellow dust off of your vehicle every day (pollen). We also have the temperature phenom that walkindude speaks of.”

“spring is here when there's flooding on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, that's the bad thing. The good thing is when the goldfish in our backyard patio pond shirk off their winter lethargy and jump around looking for eats everytime you walk by..also, seeing the leaves on the water lilies begin to fill out. It's so relaxing to lounge next to the pond, reading a good book, drinking a cool one...”

“i noticed my pond's lilly pads reached the surface today. now they just need to unfurl. my goldfish floated up a month ago though :(. they froze this winter, poor buggers! i wasn't quite spry enough to catch them last fall so i could bring them inside.”

“Sunshine, has the snow yielded in Houghton? There are still patches around Ishpeming and Republic in the woods as of Saturday. Maybe yesterday's and today's rain will finally break that last little fingerhold.

The signs of fall up here will be when the 4-sale snowmobiles are replaced by the 4-sale bassboat/jetski/motorcycle. Who gives these people credit lines?

The crocus came up weeks ago, but nothing else has dared crack a bud (though the Bud cracking has continued unabated all winter long in the bars of Rhinelander -- drinking beer, the official sport of Wisconsin).”

“Mushroom hunting...I saw one..I saw one!”

“peepers - heard them this weekend - and road kill.”

“I've forgotten to mention the loons calling last week. We live about a block and a half from Boom Lake on the Wisconsin River. Had the dogs out in the backyard last Wednesday late night for final duties, stars were out, and then a loon call reverberated from the east, answered from the west of the lake arm that runs that direction. That's the Northwoods to me.”

“To me, outlaw bikers and their outlaw biker babes are the harbingers of spring. Incidentally, I had to hike past a biker bar on Sunday wearing my hiking regalia complete with gaiters and trekking poles. Luckily no one said anything otherwise I would have had to defend the honor of my fellow hikers by kicking some biker butt. Never mess with a warrior librarian!!”

“You know it's spring here when you're sweating too bad to sleep (with the windows open). We also experienced that temperature pheonenon. Early last week we droped 25 degrees in about 4 hours and then later in the week we hit 80. The previous day's high was 40.”

“MadRiver, you could give Chuck Norris or Steven Segal a new character with that warrior librarian vs. bikers routine. Or maybe you could take it back to Rome and do Gladiator II, taking on the Visigoths after they sweep in from the north to loot civilization, burning a library of scrolls and provoking your vengeance. Librarians rule (and I'm not just saying that because I'm a writer and count on librarians to promote reading).”

“You might be on to something pekka. I think it is about time to have a warrior librarian as an action hero.”

“Earnest, the warrior librarian, only had two rules in a fight: 1. Never poke them in the eyes, or they won't be able to read.
2. Never break their index fingers if they seem the type that needs them to keep their place in the sentence.

On the spring blossom issue, how many of you have heard grouse drumming, or have flushed them from the trail margins so far?”