Spring, spring, spring

Spring is the only season in Wisconsin that doesn’t come long before the calendar says it does. By the time June 21 rolls around, the kids are out on summer break and we’ve already broken out the shorts and swim suits. By the fall equinox comes, we’ve already had frost and the corn harvest is in full swing. And I don’t have to tell you how many inches of snow have fallen before the winter solstice is upon us.

But spring is a little more elusive. We may get hints of it here and there, but winter seems to keep fighting back long into April and even May sometimes. My grandparents celebrate their wedding anniversary the end of April. Each year when there is snow on the ground then, my grandmother takes a picture. I guess she’s got quite a stack as they’re celebrating their 50th anniversary soon.

It’s a toss up between spring and fall what my favorite season is. It varies year to year because some years we have a bad spring and nice fall, and other years it switches. Some years, we have both bad or both beautiful. I’m not sure how this one’s shaping up yet. I’m looking forward to the forecast of warmth and rain later this week. That combination should really perk up all the dead grass and barren trees.

One thing I really don’t like about the season is the mud. I need to do some shoe shopping soon, but I’ve decided to wait until “mud season” is on its way out, maybe closer to May or June. As a farmer, Nate also gets quite cranky at the sloppy fields, driveways and cattle pens this time of year. As all the frozen pens are thawing and need to be cleaned, the fields and roads to get to them are softening up. One of the guys at the farm usually buries the tractor at least once each spring trying to slop through the soggy field.

Melting ice already proved near deadly for one ignorant young heifer last weekend. After getting moved to the big pasture, she decided to go exploring and took a stroll across a once frozen pond. The little cow dropped through the thin ice and could have easily died of hypothermia. Luckily, a neighbor passing by saw her and stopped to tell Nate and his dad. They dragged her out and got her back to the barn. With the help of a couple heavy-duty heaters, they got her thawed out. She didn’t get up until the next day, but it looks like she’s on her way to recovery.

Besides rescuing stupid heifers, Nate and his dad entertain themselves this time of year by tapping a few maple trees. Last year, I was fascinated with the process, having never seen it done before. Although I missed the actual tapping, I helped check the pails and take sap to the evaporator. This year I also missed the tapping since I was at work. Since I’ve already seen the rest of it, I probably won’t go out collecting sap either. Who wants to go out traipsing through the mud anyway?