More Signs of Spring!

Last week, I left a wee later in the morning, giving time for a pokey thermometer to rise into the upper thirties. I supose I'm acclimating, which is a gentler way of saying I'm getting soft with regard to temperature. But truly, why bundle up extra for a half hour earlier departure just to stow and carry more layers later in the day? It seems my logic won in the end because after leaving a library stop after noon, I found a single layer was all I wanted on my upper body, a first for riding this year. This was a particular pleasure for its unexpectedness after the morning chill. Granted, I was wearing longjohns, but those will be on me until at least the upper seventies.

Comfort in a single layer, yes, with a full height neck, was, well, really comfortable. Not feeling cold has its merits, as any blood thirsty tick would tell you, if it could speak. Instead, they tend toward stealth, but I did find the one that found me in the backyard on Saturday. Alas, mild winters mean more ticks, the one creature I truly abhor and revel killing, but I'm still happy we're warming into Spring. Likewise, I enjoyed receiving a picture from my friend Adele of the first skunk cabbage shoots on Sunday, and today's walk included the soundtrack of boisterous frogs!

But the best, or possibly worst, depending on your perspective, sign of spring came at the end of that walk. In 2022, I'd had the goal of fully submerging in Batchelor Brook behind my house at least once every month of the year. I nearly did it, except for the warmest month of July, what with thinking I couldn't get the brace for my broken neck wet. I guess I wasn't thinking clearly, or rather, with the TBI, I know I wasn't thinking clearly! Oh well, I've considered trying to repeat that goal the past few years, but there are other aspects of 2022 I definitely don't want to repeat, so it seems best to not tempt fate. But at least once ever season, I like the sound that, so with less that a week left to winter, I submerged in the brook. Yup, feels like almost Spring!

Sign on the times:

My clothes dripping on the line

After I made Batchelor Brook a little less clean.