A severe case of early onset spring

The warm weather has given me a severe case of wanderlust. Deep in my soul I know it’s not spring, but boy…it sure looks and feels as if it is. Geese are in the air, the lakes and rivers have open places, the temperatures are in the range we expect in April. The grass is turning green. 

What’s a psyche to do?

I find it funny how quickly I leave each season behind as the next one approaches. I have jokingly commented before that I spend all summer wondering why I bother to keep all those sweatshirts and long pants, then spend all winter wondering why I waste the space to store those shorts and short-sleeved shirts.

And then there’s the matter of the increasing amount of sunlight. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, we are gaining roughly three minutes of daylight every day. It doesn’t sound like much, but that means roughly 20 minutes over a week. Still, as I awaken each day and notice how much brighter it is–take note that it’s light outside, even though it was dark out at the same time a week ago–I can’t help feeling an unnatural sense of optimism.

Don’t get me wrong: there ARE things I like about winter. Sledding on a slippery hillside, cuddling under a blanket while it storms outside, watching the birds forage for seeds under my feeders, admiring the snow-white beauty of fresh snow or hoarfrost.

I know many people feel cheated by the warm weather which has kept us from accumulating snow for trails or creating “fishing villages” on our lakes.  I agree, we were cheated in that way.

Something I definitely feel cheated about is the need to move the Feb. 18 giant kite show to the open field west of the junior/senior high school. 

Sean Beaver, the owner of Great American Kite and Balloon out of Missouri, has given two shows on Clear Lake. Both have been spectacular, although in different ways. The first one, in my humble opinion, was simply perfect. The temperature was warm, the wind was from the south, the kites floated serenely in a bright blue sky. The second time was neither warm nor sunny; the wind was cold, biting and unreliable. Kites would get up in the sky, then come down again. Sean informed us he took advantage of the uneven wind to “bounce” the kites–bring them down where children could walk up alongside and push on them.

One kind of funny thing, prior to being booked in Waseca, our man from Missouri had no idea ice ever gets thick enough to hold up cars and hundreds of people. Ken Borgmann jokingly commented, “I practically had to sign an affidavit to show the ice would be safe.”

What Sean is used to doing at traditional shows is to tie some of his larger kites to trucks just to serve as sufficient anchoring. He was impressed that, out on the lake, it was simply a matter of planting enough stakes in the ice. That first year, Sean spent much of his time looking around in confused wonder.

I can comfort myself that, at least the lack of ice did not cancel the show as it has for so many others.

I hope every child (or child at heart) in the county gets to the giant kite show set for Feb. 18. It is truly wondrous to see those huge, colorful, creative shapes peppering the sky. At least our “year without a winter” hasn’t taken that away from us. Thank you to the Sleigh and Cutter Festival for bringing this enjoyable opportunity back for us again!