Springtime out here has a fairytale-like quality to it. Beyond the enchantment of renewal, the hope that comes with promise, the optimism emerging from the realization that we dont have to wear those Michelin Man-inspired overcoats for a while, spring offers something of a wake-up. No, we do not hibernate all winter in Western New York; the feeling is more of a wiping of cobwebs from the pursuit of aspirations.

My personal theory is that winters are three months long out here. It can snow, heavily, prior to those months and yes, it can snow in May, but if you make it through January, February and March youve made it through a Western New York winter. With an upcoming rainy week forecast by those paid to know, I predict were free of winter. I have no doubt my email box will be full of messages from razzers when some April blizzard hits, but I feel comfortable about this. Then again, I expected Villanova to win it all this year.

Its time to refill my little basement chamber of horrors, the space my shovels, scrapers and bags of rock salt inhabit when theyre not on duty. And then, its on to what?

Yes, baseball and drinking beer outdoors and walks instead of drives, and girls wearing shorts, the tracking-down friends unseen since the autumn and learning about who died and whos getting married and that myriad of things to do once the weather turns less hostile. Then theres income taxes due, the end of the semester if you keep time that way, examinations of whatever winter did to the outside of property, the next wave of watching that slow shipwreck in Washington. Mowing the lawn. Some people are so into lawn care they dream about it and television advertisements and entire channels are dedicated to the joy of it all, a personality disorder which has somehow long escaped me.

You could say that, if you regulate your life according to the change of season, each change will offer you a mixed bag of activities as the old bag gets thrown into the closet. No doubt about it, but that winter-turns-to-spring has more motivational mojo than the others, at least around here. You can almost sense the opportunity in the air, whereas just a few weeks ago all you had was snowflakes in the air.

Temperatures will eventually rise this year to the point they may break the 100 degree mark, something which has never occurred in Buffalo. In history. The maximum was 99 degrees in 1948 as the winters have gotten weirder, so have the summers.

An aside: I grew up in North Buffalo, and remember as a kid playing touch football in the street with my friends, more-or-less every Thanksgiving morning as we awaited whatever celebrations our respective families were planning. So it was a point of interest whether or not it would snow on Thanksgiving; these days I suspect no one even considers the possibility. Our street, incidentally, was not a fancy one but had medians of grass, which we called islands, separating the traffic lanes. Our football games offered few opportunities for end-around runs but we developed a hell of a passing attack.

I am the last person to coach anyone on the topic of spiritual renewal, but if thats what you seek then nows the time. Its the time, actually, for the renewal of New Years resolutions, or the start of a few. When you sluff off that winter coat and remove yourself from those boots, youll feel ten pounds lighter anyway.

You know, better than I ever will, what you need and want from your life, as well as what youre prepared to do about it. Take winters end as a signal that growth is about to begin.

All right, the motivational speech, like the Sabres season, is over. Some things will remain the same: however you feel about the Trump regime, I suspect its future actions or inaction will not change your attitude about it much. Life will go on whether the United Fighting Championship is a hit in the area, whether Uber ever hits the area, whether your daughter marries for money or for love. If you cannot play the piano today, you wont be able to play one next winter, unless you do something about it now.

Its such a do-something time, spring in Western New York is! This part of the world is crawling with creative writers, poets and others ready to pour out such expressive declamations, on paper by the yard, so Ill leave it to them. Snow and the rumors of snow get shoved aside for opportunities to do things instead of talk about them. Anything! Except, in my case, lawn care.

Contact Ed Adamczyk at EdinKenmore@gmail.com.

More:

ADAMCZYK: A meditation on spring. So wake up! - Niagara Gazette