Signs of Spring

#1 The robins have flocked to the fruit bearing tree in our back yard. Kenzie and I counted at least 25 of them this morning at breakfast.

I think he get drunk off the berries because it sure looks like they're awfully noisy and cantankerous. They won't give that tree up for anything. No matter how the black birds try to force them out.

Oh yeah, and they fact that they get a little tipsy and tend to fly into our windows.

#2 I just killed my first fly. It was still a bit disoriented from its hibernation in some nook of our back screen door. It tumbled off the screen and onto our back step, where I squashed it. In a few more days, we'll be swatting them left and right.

#3 I wore shorts and flip flops to school. Now that's a great rite of passage for spring. Sorry, Mr. Lindberg.

#4 Baseball is on. We watched to Twins open their new stadium from Appleebees in Apple Valley on Friday night while taking Casey out for supper. Granted by the time we tuned in, they were already down 2-8, but several people staying at our hotel either had been at that game or were planning on attending Saturday's game.

#5 The NFL draft is approaching. This, of course, is my favorite time of the year. Hope springs eternal for all teams . . . even the Yikings (draft a quarterback!).

#6 Wednesday after school marked one of my favorite sprint time traditions: my first ride home - all the way - with my window down. I haven't been able to do that in early April since I was subbing in the district 12 years ago.

#7 Easter and Cadberry eggs. Those are my favorite. Being a chunk as a kid, I remember going to the Oklee bowling alley for our spring bowling trip with the Cub Scouts. Mom - a den mother - had given me ten dollars or so to spend on video games and snacks. As I recall, there were no video games and saving money was (and still is) a foreign concept to me, I was overjoyed when I spotted a box of Cadberry eggs on their shelf. I think I bought them all. And despite what everyone said, I never got sick. Perhaps that was why I was a chunk.

#8 Time for the park. This is a new tradition. Now that Kenzie is 18 months old, every time she spots the park - or in fact, even someone's swing in their backyard - she shouts, "Wheeeee!" and raises both arms straight into the air. The only problem is trying to get her back in the Highlander once we're done with the park. That's not pleasant.

#9 No need to wear a coat to work. How nice is that. Or the fact that I now can run outside to grab something from my car without the slightest bit of hesitation about throwing a coat on. I can take Kenzie out while I let the dogs out and we can just go out in our shirt sleeves and jeans.

#10 The grill. We jumped the gun on this a few weeks ago, but now that it's so nice out, let the grilling begin - burgers, beer-butt chicken (much, much better than it sounds), steaks, corn on the cob . . . now that all that ishy slush is gone, this is some of the best times of the year in Minnesota.