Oh those March winds!!! It sure was cold on the last official morning of Winter. When I stepped outside the house it was 27 degrees, with a wind chill of 22 and NE winds clipping along at about 20 mph. Nothing like a brisk walk in late March where your breath comes out in puffy vapors and nine articles of clothing still leaves you feeling a little numb as you stroll along the water’s edge. But, on the plus side, it was clear and dry and sunny, giving this day a 10 on Linda’s good shadow day meter.
As I wended my way down to Council Point Park, I mused to myself that a day like today would be perfect for kite-flying. A telltale sign of Spring used to be kites, with their beribboned tails bobbing in the wind and straining at the end of a long line held in the chubby hands of a little boy or girl. I never see kids flying kites anymore, so tell me … are kites passé now?
Happy Spring, even if doesn’t feel very Spring-y out there.
This morning the birds were singing, buoyed by the brilliant sunshine and they simply disregarded the cold weather, deciding instead to fill the morning air with their delightful chirps, peeps and tweets. Perhaps it is just us humans who have a bone to pick with Mother Nature about this unrelenting cold.
Through the past five years, I’ve peppered my blog posts with many definitions to describe Spring:
Spring fling – casting off some of the layers that you’ve trudged around in the past six months, and there is nothing like having a lightweight jacket and slinging it around your waist and just basking in the sun on that first pleasantly warm day of Spring; or
Spring bling – that day when all the flowering trees come out and look like a passel of young women dressed in frilly pastels on their prom day; or
Spring sing – when your lips are finally not so frozen that you can purse them and sing along, note for note, with the birds in the trees.
Ahh, sweet and wonderful Spring. It is so welcome after a Winter like we’ve just had. And, even though my favorite season is actually Fall, I welcome the introduction of color into our blah and boring landscape, from those first blooms, be they crocuses, daffodils, tulips, or even dandelions. All of a sudden the world seems a little brighter, like those advertisements for Kodachrome film back in the day.
I know that Spring is in the air … the squirrels are chasing one another up and down and around the trees.
The pair of doves are hanging around my neighbor’s deck deciding if they should use the same location for Mama Dove to lay her eggs and nurture their young like last year.
The sparrows have already made a makeshift nest in the blinds once again (don’t ask) causing smoke to erupt from my ears, despite my affinity for all my feathered friends.
The sap is rising and local farms are already advertising tours of their special trees that are tapped for maple syrup and the viewing of that process, as well as the making of maple snow candy.
I was glad to be back on the trail again today, having taken yesterday off to do a few errands, among them going to renew my driver’s license. I sprung for a recreation pass for the first time ever, so I can gain access to some of Michigan’s many state parks. I thought I would expand my horizons a little, so maybe I’ll be posting pictures of wise owls, wide-eyed does and woodchucks once the weather warms up. I know there are some nice nature trails in these state parks, and I’ll look forward to traveling those paths and sharing the trips with you.
In the meantime, here is a video I’ve shared before about the changing seasons in the forest. This is Mother Nature at her finest, coupled with the beautiful song from the movie “The Cider House Rules” which people in Michigan will recognize right away as the theme music from the Pure Michigan commercials. I often view this video in the middle of the Winter as I anticipate the warm and beautiful days which are still on the horizon, and now, with Spring’s arrival, perhaps they are in reach once again.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Very windy too here in central Illinois. I fly dual-line stunt kites a lot and can do all kinds of fancy tricks with them (that took years to perfect). Most people don’t fly around here (including kids) which is very sad. It’s great exercise!
Video of me kite tricking to my self-created synthesizer music:
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Thanks for sending that video Tom. I have never heard of stunt kites, let alone seen one in action. Those maneuvers you had to keep the kite twisting in the wind were impressive. No wonder it took years to perfect handling one. It looked like a large bird up there. The music sure matched the kite’s movements as well.
It is sad that kids don’t enjoy something like kite flying. When I was growing up, all the kids in the neighborhood got their new balsa wood kite, tied some old ribbons on the tail, and attached their ball of string and we would spend hours in the meadow at the end of our street, which later became a big shopping mall. Kids don’t seem fascinated by these types of things. When we have the Gran Prix at Belle Isle in Detroit every June the Goodyear Blimp is in town and is tethered each night at a small airport about 20 miles from my house, so it flies to each of the three day’s events … I love watching it going overhead in the morning or I’ve seen it coming back at night, all lit up. Kids’ heads just don’t swivel around, even for the Blimp. It will go by overhead in the neighborhood, and no one is looking up but me. (Sorry I can’t “like” your comment – my “like” button is not working for my blog.)
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Kids need to get outdoors more, run around and do things, instead of sitting with video games and iPhone texting.
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I agree wholeheartedly with you. I grew up in Canada and even when it was bitter cold and a foot of snow, my mom dressed me up in my snowsuit and other cold-weather paraphernalia and sent me outside with the other kids in the neighborhood to play. I think we played outdoors every day except in the pouring rain. (I see my “like” button still isn’t working – I have to contact WordPress again.)
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I was never good at flying a kite, but I love to watch successful people do it.
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A blogger named Tom has just started following my blog and he replied to this post and sent a video of himself stunt kite flying. I will give you the link below, or see his comment … very interesting and I’ve never seen this done. You can barely see the two strings which he has in his hands and kite twists and turns like a large bird.
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I saw a father and his son trying to fly a kite about 2 years ago in my neighborhood. It was cute to see them since I could tell they did not have experience doing it, they tried and couldn’t get it to fly but I noticed the bond they were creating between the both of them, the laughter and fun. And that is what sharing an activity with someone you love does.
Well, I am excited about Spring! My lettuce, peppers, broccoli and cauliflower seeds are starting to sprout. And I always wonder what new plants I am going to get in the yard this years from the seeds that the wild birds drop when they visit.
Happy Spring, lindasschaub.
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That bonding moment sounds nice Martha – and that will continue long after the boy is grown and he will nurture his kids in the same way. Good luck with your seeds and that would be exciting to see what new “surprises” you end up with as a result of visits from the wild birds. Here we cannot plant seeds for a few months and they advise not to plant any annuals in the ground until after Memorial Day which is the last Monday in May. You’ll be having salad and making some great dishes to show us before you know it!
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I’m glad Winter is officially over too!
Chicago Spring weather is great today, except it was really windy yesterday. 🍀
How’s the Spring weather in your city today?
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We had terrible wind yesterday as well as today – walking in the Park this morning, wind was gusting at 22-25 mph! Windy city for you to begin with. I forgot to say on the post regarding the travel, my boss just spent two weeks in South Africa at the beginning of the year, so that might be another potential for the old bucket list before I depart Mother Earth.
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Perhaps the strong winds mark the end of winter. 🌬
(About your boss) That’s really nice, I hope he enjoyed his stay.
You probably should forget your age and all, travel makes people young at heart. ♥️
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I hope so, though we can’t complain since we’ve not been hit with much snow in March.
But Chicago got its fair share all Winter didn’t it? Travel does make you young at heart and there is so much to see – I worry about all the unrest though – when I traveled the world was not such a scary place as to international travel. And I always traveled with a tour group, so everything was taken care of for us and you moved in a group, just by yourself getting to/from that destination.
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I think 🤔 about travel security too. It only makes me think about how meaningless life is If you’re afraid to explore.
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