Springtime is simultaneously my favorite and least favorite time of the year. The weather is better, the days are longer, but it also means rainy days and mud all over my white sneakers. Nonetheless, I still see springtime as a net positive — here are my top 3 indicators that the new season has begun.
- Plants Emerging
About ten years ago, my mother and I planted red and yellow tulip bulbs. Each March, these perennial plants will re-emerge from the mulch – starting as bundles of stems and leaves. Walking around the suburbs during spring break, I love looking at people’s lawns for stems – seeing if they planted flowers for the coming season and trying to predict which types they will grow into. But there’s a few flowers that fully bloom in March, beyond just the stems. Primarily anemones, daffodils, hyacinths, and irises. Anemones are some of my old favorites and daffodils are a classic. Hyacinth and irises carry some popculture relevance than just their beauty. Bridgerton fans might recall that Hyacinth is the name of the 8th Bridgerton child, the youngest daughter, and the flower Anthony and his father were examining prior to his father’s death. Irises remind me of the Agatha Christie novel titled The Yellow Iris in which Hercule Poirot investigates the death of a woman named after the flower.
- Dairy Queen opening
One of my favorite things about warm weather is Dairy Queen opening for the summer. For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s relatively cheap ice cream either served in a cone, as a sundae, or as a blizzard. They make ice cream cakes to order too! But, Dairy Queens are only open from March to November each year. That means, when the announcements of DQ reopening for the year show up on my feed, it means spring is finally here – the weather is warm enough that Dairy Queen believes we should all be eating ice cream again. Not that I ever needed an excuse to eat ice cream, as my dorm dining hall knows, but it’s nice to get some affirmation for this choice.
- Spring Allergies
As I mentioned, springtime for me, and I’m sure many others, is quite bittersweet. See, the warmer the weather, the more likely I will be unnecessarily tired and sneezing all day. I’ve come up with some ways to combat these allergy symptoms but none of them are ideal. Of course, there’s medicine, but the daily Claritin doesn’t always work and Zyrtec makes me sleepy. The other option is just staying indoors, but what’s the fun in that! The worst part for me is definitely not being able to drive with the windows down. There’s something about driving with the windows down that is so “summer” and carefree but also a guaranteed source of sneezes. That being said, on the occasional free weekend, I will sacrifice my energy the next day so I can feel the breeze. To fellow allergy victims, I hope you find a way to overcome the allergies and enjoy spring the same way they do in pharmaceutical commercials!