What are your signs of spring?

With the weather starting to warm up a little and the snow melting, my thoughts turn to spring. We have Haydn’s Creation next week, a work that depicts in music the joy of whole new world springing to life. So it seems an appropriate time to think about signs of spring. For me, it’s the sighting of the first robin (which happened last Friday), and the crocus and tulip shoots starting to peek through the dirt. I already have snowdrops in my backyard, so spring can’t be too far off.

I asked the RPO musicians to send in their own signs of spring …

• NO SNOW. Seriously, about this time of year I’m all about the global warming - bring it on! I grew up in Long Beach, California, and spring for me is euphoric, like escaping from prison, very much like the end of Shawshank Redemption. How do I get through these months? I have no idea, but every year it seems to happen …
  - Wes Nance, trumpet
• When my reeds start working!
  - Robert DiLutis, clarinet
• I feel completely drawn to the colorful clothes in my closet all of sudden. I know that I can't take another day of winter once this happens!
  - Gaelen McCormick, bass
• For me, the signs of spring are twofold: 1) the return of the Canadian geese from their winter vacations, and 2) filing the extension for NY and Federal taxes!
  - Peter Kurau, French horn
• I think spring is usually heralded by the UPS men breaking out the shorts!
  - Anna Steltenpohl, oboe/English horn
• Having it be light in the morning when I take my son to school …
  - Kenny Grant, clarinet
• I too have some crocuses that are by the back of my house in a sunny protected location. They are starting to peek their little heads up so I know that "spring" is not too far off. But as I walk by each day I whisper to them, "I'm not so sure it's safe to come up as it is only the first part of March." So far they seem to be listening.
  - John McNeill, percussion
• My signs of spring are the lush smells of hyacinth and the beautiful colors of tulips that are so abundant in the flower city. I am also fond of the game of golf even though I am not a very good stick! I do enjoy seeing those pins at the many courses in Rochester! When the pins are in spring is here. … I also love to garden and seeing tiny new shoots in my perennial gardens also is a joy for me.
  - Jennifer Burch, French horn
• One of my favorite signs of spring is to be awakened early in the morning by the honking sounds of a flock of geese flying over our house. I listen for a few moments, then turn over and go back to sleep, smiling.
  - Libba Seka, viola
• The capriciousness of March is my favorite sign of Spring. It always causes me to reminisce about the birth of our first child, Erin, in March of 1981. It was a balmy 72 degrees the day she was born, but only 10 degrees when Bill and I brought her home from the hospital. I imagine it must have been quite a shock for her! So, I am never surprised by the changeable March weather. On the milder days I grab some lawn clean-up tools and verbally coax the tiny hints of flowers in my yard – only to have to take up the snow shovel again a couple of days later. I often say that the only thing that is predictable about March is its unpredictability – just like life with a newborn!
  - Nancy Hunt, violin