 Spring to us Up North has connotations not even dreamt of by those from more moderate climates
Spring to me is that single day when the weather turns mild
and you know that it isn’t going to drop back down to single-digit
temperatures until at least, say, October. Maybe September.
This “spring” is a day - admittedly
usually only one day - of such liberation as is unknown but for those
who endure (and enjoy) true ice-caked, bone-chilling, snow-buried,
freezing-your-car-doors-shut winters. It is the one day on which even
Scandinavians will be seen bouncing merrily along the streets, scantily
clad in only shirts and slacks without scarfs or hats, long underwear
or Steger mukluks. (By June evenings, elements of that clothing have
returned, especially gloves.)
This is a day when you can stroll along a
sidewalk without watching your feet in fear of that lurking patch of
ice. You make eye contact with passersby and say, “Hi!” instead of
“Mgfm!” from the other side of a knit muffler. You can inhale deeply
without your nostrils welding together. In fact, you can smell smells
again … some might be unpleasant leftovers of winter, but, hey, your
sniffer works!
You can enter into a building
without instantly fogged glasses blinding you. And you can leave a
building without suiting up in outer clothing that makes us all look
like down-packed versions of the Michelin man. On this day, you can use
a public rest room without disrobing in a closet-sized space while
trying to figure out where to hang the coat and purse and hat and
gloves without letting anything touch the floor.
Spring is such a glorious day-after-winter day that when it
arrives, we Northlanders tend to want to stay outside as much as we
possibly can from then until first snow. We must cram all of our
easy-going outdoor time into a relatively few weeks.
Lots of folks have outdoor reunions, several area churches
have regular or occasional outdoor services in summer and many couples
plan outdoor weddings. That’s what Bob and I did six Septembers ago in
Billings Park in Superior, Wisconsin (as you can see by the
photograph).
Now, not every day after Spring is sunny weather along the
shores of Lake Superior so outdoor plans must be flexible with multiple
Plan Bs.
Some of our wedding guests, by the way, were impressed that
our simple ceremony and potluck picnic merited sunshine after a full
week of torrential downpours that started again in the early evening of
our wedding day (but we were bowling with the family by then.) They
thought it had to do with our being married through Quaker Meeting, but
I believe a large contribution to the good weather came the week before
the wedding from my sister-in-law’s organizing little Lutheran ladies
to pray in the nursing home where she works. Our other Plan B was a
nearby Baptist church that agreed to send someone over to open their
doors on a moment’s notice. Bless them all. In this issue in our Lake
Superior Living section, we offer some more secular options on planning
those outdoor lakeside weddings.
When you’re not getting married, there are lots of other
things to do outside in this neck of the woods. In our Recreation
Guide, we feature a few activity alternatives, along with some humorous
tales of outings that went awry for outdoor experts and what they had
(or didn’t have) as Plan Bs.
Whatever you decide is your Plan B this warmer season, make certain that your Plan A is a simple: Get Out! … and enjoy.
Konnie LeMay
Editor
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