Fantastic Friday: Winter is Leaving

I had a little fun this week with winter’s departure. Anyone who knows me knows that I detest snow. Not only did I have plenty of it growing up in New England: more recently, snow has caused a sprained thumb, thirteen hours stuck in a car alone, and an emergency trip to the hospital when the baby decided to arrive mid-storm. So, each spring I’m a little eager to say goodbye to winter in a rather less-than-friendly way.

One year, for instance, I used my gladius on a snowman:

I thought winter was “over” a few weeks ago, but a cold snap brought more snow. Knowing (or hoping, at least) that it would be the last snow of the season, I rolled a bit of it into a big snowball. I thought I’d repeat my celebratory “kill the snowman” fun of last year:

So I ended up with a large snowball. Here is my dog Yoda about to, um, pay his respects to the snow. (Don’t worry—no yellow snow here. Yoda is a “low rider,” and anything the corgi “marks” usually stays dry, as his aim is a little low!):

But on the first day of spring, when I was all set to make my celebratory snowman, my eight-week old had to go for her shots. It was her first round of immunizations, and it made her grumpier than grumpy. For several hours, I had to sit perfectly still while she slept. Even the smallest movement woke her up and sent her wailing. Needless to say, by the time the Tylenol kicked in and the effects of the shots started to wear off, I was tired and it was dark out. So no snowman. I woke the next morning to find my opportunity to celebrate winter’s demise shrinking—literally:

Not only that, but the snow had melted during the day and then frozen hard again. No snowman-making for me. I had to think of another way to celebrate the end of winter. So I did:

Going…

Going…

Gone.

And the grand circle of life continues.

Happy Spring, everyone! And Happy Friday!