Mud Season Has Arrived!

We’ve had a string of perfect spring days and I for one have a touch of spring fever! The sun is shining, there’s not a cloud in the sky and I think we might hit the mid- to high 50s this afternoon. On top of all this, it’s St. Patrick’s Day, so I’m feeling green and cheerful – like a little leprechaun has taken over my brain and body.

This is the time of year when there is a confluence of events and seasonal signs that make this one of the most enjoyable and the most miserable mini-seasons for us local folks.

• Cold nights and warm days mean the sap is running and that means maple syrup isn’t far behind. Steam rising from the sugar shacks in the woods and along the road always put a smile on my face!
• Spring skiing! Need I say more? Spring skiing means we get to work on our tans – at least from the neck up and, if we’re lucky, our forearms! Spring skiing means some of us spend more time on the deck t the base lodge visiting with friends and enjoying a cold one than we do on the slopes. Spring skiing really means that spring is around the corner and within sight.
• Cold nights and warm days also mean the roads are one step away from an official mud bog course and savvy drivers purposely drive miles out of their way to avoid certain roads rather than risk ending up in knee-deep mud up to the under-carriage of their cars requiring a tow from a friendly neighbor and a chastising from the automobile mechanic who stated that my car was among the worst he’d seen that year (that’s another story)!

As we travel south out of the mountain towns to Manchester and beyond or north toward Rutland, we notice there is little if any snow. Here in the mountains we still have feet upon feet of the white stuff. We watch miserably as folks in thse towns get to start raking lawns, putting their driveway’s gravel back in their driveways, and clearing broken tree branches. We, however, still have snow up to our eyeballs. The snow banks are gray and ugly and we still have months before yard care is on our to-do lists.

A friend posted on her facebook page last night that the warm days are making her think of sitting on the porch and watching the world go by with a G&T in hand and a smile on the face. Porch-sitting, cocktail in hand, is one of my favorite pastimes. My porch is a little far from the road, but I can still watch the comings and goings of our rural “neighborhood. I have noticed a decided change in traffic patterns as people go the “long way ‘round” from Peru and Manchester to Weston rather than cut through Landgrove. Must be the mud roads they’re hoping to avoid.