Farewell, Spring

It's great news that we received a fair amount of rain during spring 2013. One thing I can certainly say is that we had a nice spring compared to our fellow country-folks in Oklahoma. I'm quite sure that they would rather forget spring 2013 while we would like to bottle it up and release it sometime in late July/early August. Bottling up weather is wishful thinking in which I have participated in quite a bit over the years.

Overall, the temps stayed down and it has been quite pleasant outdoors despite some days with high pollen counts throughout this spring. Lately, I noticed that the flowers all around the metro have never looked better. Believe me, if you commute or are simply a prisoner in your vehicle, it's great to see those gorgeous hues while negotiating the area's nasty roadways. And here's another downside to getting soaked: driving on these gas and oil-stained roads which seem to quickly flood. Our autos' tires receive a great challenge under metro Atlanta rainy conditions. Thusly, traffic jams in rainy weather around these parts are guaranteed just as much as taxes.

What's not so great about regular rainfall is how fast the grass and competing weeds grow. They thrive on our properties just as much as the deer, squirrels, rabbits, mice, foxes, rats, worms, opossums, raccoons and lately: the chipmunks, who have been coming out in strong numbers this year. Note to my neighborhood cats: You're not catching those chipmunks like you did in your leaner days! Y'all are falling down on the job! Seriously, the more everything grows, the more we are feeding those animals who visit our yards. Some of the visitors are a sight for sore eyes while others are not welcome like snakes, lizards or worse yet, a rogue alligator who could have been deposited in the Chattahoochee River at night. Well anyone knows that a rogue alligator just knows that it is not welcome in the Peach State when a qualified trapper takes the disturbing-looking visitor to its rightful habitat well below the Georgia-Florida border.

Let's face it: we do need the rain in this land-locked area that has experienced too many droughts over the years. While I wish that there was a better way to retain and conserve our precious water for future droughts, me and I'm sure millions appreciate the rain. It's the strong winds, possible twisters, floods and lightning all of us could do without when Mother Nature provides us with water from the skies.

Not only does rain provide us with a much-needed resource, it briefly cools us down in these hot months. As we all know, when the rain chances decline, the heat goes up. This week, we return to the lovely 90s and above. Here's hoping that we will not have a long string of those 90 degree days like summer 2011. There is no doubt that the metro area's air conditioning units will start to get a workout as the intense Georgia sunshine makes its presence known in the coming days, weeks and months. So long, spring, it's been nice knowing you! So, how many days are there until autumn, or shall I say, when the days' high temperatures go back to the low 80s?