February 22, 2008

No robin, no crocus, but a sure sign of Spring!

I don't want to rush the season, but a clear sign of Spring was evident today, even with the Vernal Equinox a full month away (March 20).

No, there are no daffodils peeking through the snow; no earthworms sunning; no singing frogs. Lots of birds (and two blankety-blank squirrels!) at the feeder -- my wife saw a hawk resting briefly outside our kitchen window this morning -- but no robins.

March Madness is a pretty good indicator, but selection Sunday isn't until March 16, three weeks off, with the opening round on March 18.

The 84th Realtors' Home and Garden Show in Milwaukee is further away (March 28 to April 6). Local Realtors haven't started Spring's optimistic round of open houses yet, despite many anxious sellers. Dairy Queen is still shuttered.

Then what makes me certain Spring is on the way? The Pothole Patrol was making its way down Ohio this morning, stopping to shovel warm asphalt into some of the more threatening holes. The headline on Mike Moore's column in the Journal Times called Ohio a street "only a moon rover could love," and apparently that got to the powers-that-be at the city's Public Works Department.

Or maybe they had planned to do the work long in advance, as soon as the ice and snow were removed. Regardless, a couple of trucks were spotted going north and south on Ohio, stopping every few feet so a worker could shovel asphalt into a crack here, a pothole there, a crevasse over there, a canyon ...

The effect is more cosmetic than effective, a short-term fix rather than a permanent solution, but hey, at this point we'll take anything! Surely, it's a sign.

1 comment:

  1. Hey the 200 Blk of Jones St! A car can not be driven down that street.
    Of course the City could care less
    Jones is in the inner-city and getting the 8" of ice off the road brings no glory like say a Grant writer would or an artiest relocation program.
    "Millions for Grant writers not one cent for basic street services" or
    "Let them eat Ice" are the words out of bunker at City Hall.

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