The unglamorous realities of early spring in Wisconsin.
We, here in Wisconsin, don’t really understand why. Why do stores start stocking shorts and tank tops in March?
Why do they try to sell flip-flops and sleeveless Easter dresses? Why is everything pastel and flimsy?
The reality is, we have not yet put away our winter coats and snow boots. Guess what? Our world is brown and muddy
and cold and yes, we could get a few big snowstorms in March, April, or May.
We relish those few nice days when you can go outside without a coat
but you better have back-up jackets and mittens in your car.
We could have days when they skies are an eye-popping blue. (Notice the very bare branches on the trees)
But we could just as easily have skies that are so cloudy that it looks like a great grey dome of depression has settled over the city. And it could last for days and days.
Spring is a slight improvement over our winters. I have put away my sub-zero jacket. That bulky parka that is essential for
wind chills and polar vortexes.
I have put away the huge fur-lined gloves that go along with the parka.
A chilly day doesn’t have fear hanging in the air now. Most cars will start on a 30 degree day. 30 below zero, well, that’s
our winter worry.
But you can forget about children prancing through the tulips for an Easter egg hunt around here.
Your children better be in snow pants and mittens, ready to make an Easter bunny snowman.
Because that’s just how we roll here in the Midwest.
Just like this seed pod bundled up for the coming of summer, we are ready and waiting.
When the time is right, we will make a mad dash to the stores for our shorts and flip-flops. Maybe late June.
Until then, the stores would sell more, perhaps if they had realistic clothes for our climate.
Something that co-ordinates better with mud, perhaps!
lifefullyinhabited 