Or: How I learned that winter was over when March began.
I realize that in many areas of Twins Territory, just because the calendar rolls to March that doesn't mean the snow disappears. Winter in Minnesota (or North Dakota or Iowa or Montana) shoulders its way into spring, every year, and at least four times you'll say "Ah, finally, that's the last of the winter!" only to be rudely reminded that spring must tear its dominance from winter's cold, dead hands.
That doesn't stop March from being something special. It's the first month of the year, at least if you're from the midwest, when you can say with some level of certainty that The End Is Near. At some point in this next month you'll think about downgrading what jacket you wear, the morning sunshine will be that special blue that only comes out in the spring, and if you're lucky you might see some grass on your lawn instead of snow.
Well, not tomorrow. But sometime this month.
And then there's baseball. The game that belongs to summer. The game that belongs to the warm nights and sunny afternoons, a companion that will be there everyday leading into the fall. The first baseball game is less than 48 hours away, and the Twins play their first spring training game in just four days.
The weather has been a little disappointing in Florida so far--lots of cloud cover and some rain. But even so, being able to jump online and catch pictures of our boys on green grass somewhere is the symbol of what's to come. And I know that's a hell of a lot better than looking out your window and still seeing all that white stuff.
Spring is a time of promise and things new, and I don't believe that baseball starting in the spring is just a coincidence. I think the baseball gods planned it that way.