Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, I wonder where the snowflakes is. I’ve been hoping our unusually mild weather is a “fool’s spring,” but the 10-day forecast doesn’t support that. It looks warm for at least another week. Yet here in Colorado, March is normally our snowiest month! (Global warming, anyone?)
So now I have to worry about what’s going on outside. Whoopee. The grass is greening up and will soon need mowing. Lawn Doctor has already been out here once. I just got a new sprinkler controller installed this week. The trees and shrubs are setting buds and getting ready to explode; I need to get those shrubs pruned before they get too far along. I’m stressing once again about whether to get the house repainted this year, or whether it will wait another year. I’ve had a conversation with the next-door neighbor about fixing the fence we share. I’ve even fired up the air conditioning a couple of times because when it hits the mid-60s outside, the temperature inside will start climbing toward the mid-70s and beyond. (And I’m wondering if now is the time to replace my 19-year-old AC system.)
These concerns don’t exist in the winter. I don’t have to think about anything outside the walls of this house. I can certainly understand why so many seniors opt for condos, apartments, patio homes or some arrangement where the outdoors is someone else’s responsibility. But I don’t think I have another move in me (I’ve moved 12 times in my adult life and this is the longest I’ve been in one place). Not to mention home prices, which have almost doubled here since I bought this house in 2008; I don’t need a new, higher mortgage payment. Most importantly — and many of you may think it silly — I have a devoted 60-pound dog that needs a yard and I’m determined she will have one for the rest of her life.
So, sure, for this week I’m enjoying open windows and the sound of chirping birds.
But make no mistake. I much prefer winter.
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*Okay, I exaggerated slightly. The grass is greening up, but not actively growing yet, and I’ve yet to see any flowers.