Spring Has Arrived

By Al Horn

I was once told: if it looks like chocolate, smells like chocolate, taste like chocolate, then it must be chocolate. I have used those rules to confirm many a suspicion. In the last few days: I played golf without a pair of thermals under my clothing, I saw dozens of teenagers running around in shorts, and my grandchildren played outside in nothing but long shirtsleeves. It must be spring.

Some of you might be saying that a real sign of spring is when things start to turn green around you. Well, we got that base covered, too. We were the last house in the subdivision to get sod installed last fall. Our three immediate neighbors and several other houses that were completed after October of last year have started to receive sod for their yards. Still not convinced?

How about the lawn sprinkler trucks that have started to show up? The fencing company's are knocking on all the doors and almost all of the geese that have spent the last four months hanging around our retention ponds have all taken wing for the north.

For me, the most convincing evidence was when I found myself two hours into cleaning and organizing my garage/workshop. I only get excited about that twice a year; spring and fall. The Barmaid came out of the house where she had been nursing a cold and commented on how good things looked. I asked her if she wanted me to stop for any errands and she just smiled and told me to keep doing what I was doing. I rest my case.

Granted, today is not supposed to be as warm as the last two but my enthusiasm hasn't waned. By the end of the day I will have everything in order and will turn my mind to enjoying the upcoming week that I am taking off for vacation. I will get some things done at the church that have been waiting for me to have some extended time to work on. Later this week I hope to get some more golf in. If the Barmaid is up to it, we will both get out to play golf. At the end of the week I will join our church's men's group in doing some work for a local youth camp.

Yesterday I took my granddaughter to the hardware store to pick up some supplies for my garage. Afterwards we went to a local fast food place to get ice cream. We both ordered hot fudge sundaes. After we sat down at a table she stirred it with her spoon, leaned in to smell it, then put just a little on her tongue. Her face lit up with a big smile. That was when she told me how much she was looking forward to us being off this next week. She has spring break.

I smiled and took a big bite of my sundae. I savored the rich taste of the chocolate for several seconds. In that moment, everything fell into place; it must be spring.