Ann Bailey: Here's hoping that spring has sprung - Grand Forks Herald

Years of living on the Northern Plains, where three-day blizzards, subzero temperatures and ice storms are all too common during the month, tell me, anecdotally, that the answer is a definite “no." However, hope springs eternal, and I am allowing myself to dream that the warm, mostly sunny conditions that have been characteristic of the weather this March will continue.

During the first half of the month, I have enjoyed playing with our dogs near Arvilla, at Turtle River State Park dog park, hiking up the nearby hill with them, walking them down the gravel roads by our farmstead, and simply enjoying being outside dressed in a light jacket and wearing tennis shoes.

Shedding the layers of clothing and winter boots is something I usually can’t do consistently for at least another month, and I’m not taking it for granted. I feel a little chilly when I’m working outside thinking about how I usually can’t do those chores because the ground is covered by several feet of snow. But my heart warms when I realize that most springs, I’d still be shoveling snow off the sidewalk instead of sweeping last year’s leaves.

Another thing I’ve appreciated this March is that it has not brought with it water in our basement or field ponds that are so big the wind produces waves that lap at the sides of our roads.

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I know that the dryness this spring is causing concern for farmers and ranchers in some parts of North Dakota, and I hope it rains in those places. However, where I live, too much moisture – and not a lack of it – has been a perennial problem for the past three decades.

I would be happy to see moderate, timely rains this spring that benefit crops, but not heavy, wet snow or big downpours. I very much appreciate not having to slosh through a few inches of water to wash clothes in the basement this spring or not worrying about sump hoses freezing when temperatures drop at night.

Having lived through drought years and years of excessive moisture, I agree with one of my dad's sayings: “It’s no better to drown than it is to die of thirst.”

The knowledge that March could end up leaving like a lion and April can be a month of cold and snowy weather keeps me from counting too much on the warm, dry spring continuing. Because of that, I haven’t gotten too far ahead of myself by raking off the leaves that cover the flower beds or planting the garden seeds that I’m itching to get in the ground.

I know the weather can rapidly change between the time I’m writing this and the time it's published in the Grand Forks Herald, let alone between now and late May or early June. For that reason, I'm enjoying the weather by spending as much time as I can outside doing the chores. Still, I haven’t put away the snow shovel, nor have I put my winter coat and boots in summer storage.

That’s a win for me either way. I will be happy if they sit on the porch and I don’t use them. And if I do use them, I’ll be glad I don’t have to haul them up from the basement.

Ann Bailey is a Grand Forks Herald reporter who writes a personal column twice each month.

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Ann Bailey: Here's hoping that spring has sprung - Grand Forks Herald
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