Friday, November 17, 2006

It's Almost Spring

There is a running joke going on in the BTH household. A few weeks back I mentioned to Mrs. BTH that "spring was right around the corner". She half laughed, half scoffed at this notion as we are faced with the realization that we have a long Midwestern winter ahead. (As we get older, neither of us is particularly endeared to snow and/or cold.) However, as I pointed out to her, there is reason behind my optimism.

As we all know the holiday season is, basically, upon us. (It's not just the retailers trying to get us to shop earlier this time, we really are less than a week from Thanksgiving.) We also know that once the holidays arrive, the months of November and December tend to fly past.

In addition, by late December, winter will officially arrive. While that doesn't sound very spring-like on the surface, that first day of winter will mark the beginning of the return of daylight to the north. Slowly and steadily we will see more minutes of daylight each day. A sure sign of spring, if there ever was one.

Another sign of spring has been filling my email box. I'm getting 2007 schedules, pre-season All-America team announcements and recruiting notes from BTH friends far and near. While the warmth of the sun is still a ways off for us snow-bound college baseball fans, the season is approaching once again. The "ping" won't return for a few months, but preparations are underway and that's a comforting thought -- even if we haven't really started winter yet.

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