First Day of Spring?

A sign of Spring

So much for Groundhog's Day! If I'm not mistaken, Punxsatawney Phil reported that we would have an early Spring this year. Well, March 20th has come and gone, and this morning we woke up in northwest New Jersey to a coating of snow and ice. 


Just as luck would have it, we have tickets for the April 7th Mets-Marlins game at Citi Field, and after a week with temperatures predicted to be in the 60's, there is a chance of light snow in the AccuWeather long-range forecast for that date. I remain optimistic, however, as the forecast will probably change a million times between today and the day of the game. As a matter of fact, I think it would be fascinating to pick a day several weeks ahead and monitor how many times and in what ways the forecast does in fact change. 


This brings me to a couple of pet peeves about TV programming. Most of the time, the Weather Channel is very informative and right on top of breaking developments, particularly when dangerous storms are approaching. But how many more programs and reminders do we need about asteroids and other cataclysmic, global events? Most people just want the current forecast. OK, perhaps one of those Weather Channel jackets from L.L. Bean as well? But the Weather Channel is not alone. If you find the Travel Channel, it can be a great place to learn about various destinations and cultures. Sometimes you can practically smell the foods being created - OK, that's a stretch. Except perhaps around Halloween, do we need to be constantly bombarded with shows about ghosts? Speaking of which, it's hard to believe that next year will be the 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters!


Soon we will probably complain that it is too warm, but Spring on the East Coast can be beautiful. Cherry Blossom season is at our doorstep, with great annual events in Washington, DC and Newark, NJ. In my household, we count our blessings with the weather, that the worst of our problems was lack of power for nearly a week, first with the surprise Halloween snowstorm in 2011 and then during Hurricane Sandy exactly a year later. Even earlier in 2011, parts of our town suffered horrendous flooding as a result of Hurricane Irene. For those still rebuilding in New Jersey and New York after Hurricane Sandy, we hope that the improving weather will make it a little easier to move forward in impossible circumstances.

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