It is Spring! Or it will be tomorrow. No matter. The days are chilly, but that beats bone numbing cold. Right now, there is no snow on the ground, but that could quickly change. Yesterday the handicap ramp at the church had patches of ice on it, but that was taken care of…………It Is Spring! Or at least it will be tomorrow.

          The old saying is that in Spring a young man’s fancy turns to love. I always assumed the word ‘fancy’ meant thoughts of things you wanted. I still think that is the right interpretation. That would be fine for some weird guys, I suppose, but for me as a young guy my ‘fancy’ turned to baseball. Who needs ‘love’ when you can have a white ball against a blue sky? Or, in the case of northeast Ohio, a white ball buried and lost in the snow.

          I actually do not remember ever dating anyone during the Spring until I met Marsha. I broke up with a couple of girls just before baseball started so I wouldn’t have to waste time dating. I think the only reason Marsha made it through that first Spring was because she would go and watch the games. She seemed to instinctively know that if she ever said something like ‘You like baseball more than you like me’ she would have been proven right, at least that first year. There is just something so defining in the sound of a bat hitting a ball. SPRING! Feeling a hot grounder snugging into your glove. SPRING! Hearing the sound of a baseball smacking the first baseman’s glove at the same moment the batter’s foot smacks the bag. SPRING! I love Spring.

          When Marsha and I moved to Miami, I really missed Spring. Oh, they said they had Spring, but it wasn’t like home. One time in Miami, during an early morning walk, I actually slipped on some ice from the rain the night before. One time. When you live in that kind of environment, how can you really appreciate changes in the seasons? Flowers bloom year round there. That’s nice. But to see a crocus fighting to bloom, now that is Spring! Back then the Baltimore Orioles did spring training in Miami. That was the only real harbinger of Spring. The Orioles came back. Back in Ohio the leaves changed color and fell, the winds came and the snows followed. You became tired of the snow and then, bit by bit, Spring began to make its way back. By the time it was there in its full glory, you were ready for it. Miami went from unbearably hot to really hot to hot then to warm and then you started over. Whole different thing in the North.

          In 1997 the Cleveland Indians had their home opener cancelled because of snow and then there was a World Series game at the end of the season there that was called on the account of snow. That is what makes the season changes so great here in the North. You appreciate the change.

          So, yes, it is Spring! Or it will be tomorrow. With Spring comes Resurrection Day (or Easter, take your pick). The high on Resurrection Day is to be 48 degrees and partly sunny!

          IT IS SPRING! Or it will be tomorrow.