Spring in Minnesota

Something wonderful happens in Minnesota, in the Spring, when the sun shines. People leave their houses, they greet their neighbors, you see children riding bikes down the street, music wafting from backyards where the scent of the barbecue lingers in the air. Kids jump in puddles, poke sticks into the snow piles that still remain, covered in black soot and gravel from the long months of Winter.

You can see peoples skin again.

Everyone has a smile on their face. Hands swing as they go down the street. Car windows come retract and people start looking at each other, not past and down the street. They connect; recognize their humanity, see each other as equals, not just as faceless blobs that hurry down to get wherever they are going to.

You'll never have a friend like a Minnesotan friend in the Spring.

The whole world seems lighter. And it is. Literally. The sun shines and the wind becomes milder; not the hot, humid breeze of Summer, but the soft, gentle wind that encourages you to open your windows and let the freshness in. The days are longer. People make plans to socialize and move about after a day of work. It's no longer necessary to hermit away in your house, tired and weary because it's dark and cold.

Spring is like crack for the soul.

Something wonderful happens in Minnesota, in the Spring, when the sun shines. People feel alive. They smile and sing. People other places besides to the house to the car to the destination and back. It is exciting, invigorating. You actually want to move. People turn their faces up, towards the sun, to catch the weak (but growing stronger!) rays shining down. Thanking the world for becoming warm again.