6 Days and Counting…Until Spring

Ah, spring. I live in the South, Northeast Tennessee to be exact. I haven’t lived here all that long but to me spring in the South means:

• Annuals (flowers) springing up everywhere from thawing ground: yellow daffodils, purple crocuses, red tulips. How awesome is it that you plant some bulbs in the fall and in the spring they erupt, right on time?

• Dogwoods in full bloom; beautiful, white, like a white fur coat

• Leaf buds on trees that soon become shade for my children

• Brilliant red Cardinals flitting around. Have you ever seen a beautiful red Cardinal against a snowy spring background? Yes, I know that the Cardinal is the state bird of Virginia.

• More time in the evening to get things done: chores, gardening, relaxing in a rocking chair on the porch with a sweet tea in hand

• More cookouts (aka barbecues) featuring burgers, dogs and brats, shrimp, steak, corn and veggies. I love to experiment with different rubs and marinades.

• Shorts and tee shirts which means I need to kick my workouts into high gear

• A month or two of low(er) electric bills, before the a/c kicks into high gear

• Sweet tea and home-made lemonade, for the lemonade stand my kids are begging to do already
  

• Spring cleaning (or not)

• Easter: cholocate bunnies, chocolate eggs, pastel M&Ms, Easter egg-hunts, messy Easter egg-dying, chocolate (I already said that, didn’t I)

• Green rolling hill countryside drives to Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and points beyond

• Planning a summer vacation to…

Copyright by Kelsey Barklow March 2009