Allow me to apologize for the horrible weather we have had to endure this spring. It’s entirely my fault that we have had to put up with blizzards in April, snow in May and freeze and frost warnings both months–not to mention use of “wind chills” after Mothers’ Day. It’s my fault because I have planned a lot more outdoor activities this year than I usually do.
I’ve umpired more girls high school softball games than normal this spring. In past seasons, a day they I’ve had to ump has meant a day filled with clouds, light rain, wind and far below average temperatures. I’ve even worked some games played with flurries coming down. Multiply that by over twenty assignments this year and you can see why we’ve had such a prolonged spell of unseasonably lousy weather. And then that gets compounded by postponed games being rescheduled a few weeks later–pushing bad weather forward another few days.
I’m also responsible for bad weekend weather by playing in a few more spring golf events. On Saturday my usual group froze our buns off for the umpteenth year in a row in a scramble event that was held a weekend later than usual and still had horrible weather. At least we didn’t have to come off the course this time because of sleet. My other tournament so far this year featured no sun, 45-degrees and 20-mile an hour winds. You’re welcome.
Now, you may recall a few seasonably nice days so far this spring–like that week with temps in the 60’s back in March. That was when my wife and I were in Florida–and they had slightly below average temperatures down there. And then there was that Friday before Mothers’ Day that featured a high of 80. I spent three hours of that day trapped in the Neenah City Hall for press conferences on the Eagle National Cycles shooting–followed by a couple of hours in a restaurant with my parents enjoying the Early Bird Special.
If I had just planned on doing nothing all spring–no softball umpiring, no golf tournaments, no plans for bike rides, just watching TV in the basement or staying at work for 80-hours a week–we would have had the most beautiful spring in the history of Wisconsin. (Although, that would have contributed to alarm over “global climate change”.) So next year, I’ll make an effort to spend as much time as possible during the spring inside being a couch potato so the rest of you can enjoy some decent weather for a change.
