First day of spring! Ah! Time to pack away the winter gear, start thinking about gardening, enjoy the warmer weather …. PSYCH! Not in Vermont my friends. In Vermont, we are under a Winter Storm Warning with snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches expected by tomorrow.

I admit, this is nothing unusual for Vermont. We have had snow as late as late April. In fact, the year that my oldest son Noah was born on April 14th, we had almost three feet of snow in the backyard when I went into the hospital. Mind you, while there we had a major melt and three days later most of it was gone. But still. Nothing unusual, nothing new, nothing changed.

What makes me go “Huh???” though is the article in our local newspaper this morning headlined “Earlier spring a sure sign of global warming, studies say.” Don’t get me wrong, I am not debating the facts or message of the article. I strongly believe that global warming is a serious issue and agree that we all need to rethink how we treat Mother Earth or our kids and grandkids will pay the price. I am just thinking that the timing on this article is a wee bit off …. considering the local market and weather forecast.

The article talks about the cherry blossoms in DC primed to bloom, butterflies showing up in CA, seasonal allergies already on the rise in PA. Yet, here in Vermont, we had one of the snowiest winters on record. SO, maybe, just maybe, the local newspaper editor wants to rethink the timing of the article. Because if other people react the way I did when reading the headline, with a resounding “yeah, right”, it might not have the desired impact.

On a sidenote, I did see the first Robin of the year land in the crabapple bush in front of my office window early last week. Now THAT is early. He seemed a bit forlorn and the pair of cardinals, who live in that bush all winter long looked at him with what even in the bird world must be known as the ‘Dude, what are you smoking??’ look. It was too funny.

Anyways, gotta go. Gotta tell my plow contractor to get his %$#& in gear so my old folks (I manage several senior living facilities) can get out of the house safely.

Cheerio.