Here we are, it’s the first week of March and everyone in Maine is in a tizzy about an early Spring.  I’ve been fooled too many times by that little rodent from Punxatawney, PA.  Living in Maine has given me a new respect for good old Mother Nature.   She can make a fool of us very easily it seems.  So I thought I’d come up with a few telltale signals to help me make my own decision. How to tell if an early Spring will be coming to Maine. Here they are.

• The morning doves arrived this week, a few months ahead of schedule. Maybe they know something I don’t but then again they’re just stupid birds.
• The daffodils are an inch high and going strong even though the night temperatures have remained in the mid-twenties.
• I actually observed a number of groundhog loving idiots wearing shorts, T-shirts, and flip flops in the last few weeks. Morons!
• I’ve also spotted large numbers of maple syrup collection pots going onto maple trees all over the area.

‘Old-school equipment.’

‘New high-tech equipment.’

‘End Result’

• The ice fishing huts are off the lakes and sitting on shore. The ice is either gone completely or too soft to walk on.

• Snowmobiles throughout the area have been parked in driveways with “For Sale” signs attached.  Always a telling sign.
• The squirrels are out in large numbers already as reflected by the increased number of road kills I’ve been observing.
• While road kill numbers for squirrels are up so are the number of bicyclists on the roads. Riding through piles of dirty snow must give them some kind of a perverse thrill.
• Of course the crazy and obsessive joggers and power walkers seem to be everywhere all of a sudden. It’s a real chore trying to drive on the roads filled with joggers, walkers, bicycles, squirrels, and the slowly melting piles of dirty snow.
• And finally now that the parka’s, gloves, scarfs, and sweaters are coming off I can once again begin my girl watching campaign for 2016.  For most of the winter it’s hard to tell who are the men and who are the women.

I suppose I should mention that when I woke up this morning I walked over to the window to check things out. To my chagrin we had just enough of a snowfall during the night to whiten everything.  This is Spring? I think not.

Lesson #1 – Ignore weather forecasts made by groundhogs who don’t live in the state of Maine.

C’MON SPRING