Here in the U.S. the first day of Spring (the Vernal Equinox) came and went on March 20, 2014; not that anybody around here noticed. To me, the first day of Spring is the day of the Tigers Home Opener. This year it was March 31, 2014 and the weather co-operated with temperatures in the 60’s.

The four seasons as we know them here in the U.S. are the well known Spring, Summer Autumn (Fall) and Winter, each being three months long. The joke in Michigan is that we have only two seasons; Winter and Road Construction. To prove this point, the Michigan Department of Transportation has released its map of construction projects for 2014. As a child I always viewed Summer and Winter as being much longer than Spring and Autumn. I think this has to do with the fact that here in Michigan winter weather begins long before the first day of winter and that school lets out long before the first day of Summer. When I lived in Florida there seemed to only be two seasons: Tourist Season (November to March) and Summer (April to October). Summer was when all the Snowbirds left and I could get into my favorite restaruants without a long line. It was also the only time we went to the Beach.

A scientist in Australia recently suggested that they need more than the traditional four seasons. Dr. Tim Entwisle thinks we need to break Spring into two seasons; Sprinter (early Spring) and Sprummer (late Spring), giving us a total of five seasons. He claims that indigenous peoples in Australia have up to seven seasons based on plant and animal life as well as weather.

The Union of Concerned Scientist feel that due to global Climate Change Spring arrives 10 days earlier than it used to in the 1950’s. They go on to say that this “Spring Creep” leads to late Summer forest fires, droughts and floods.

Any way you look at it. Spring is here and I couldn’t be happier. We are gearing up for one of our seasons, Rain Barrel Seasons. Pop over to MIRainBarrel.com and take a look at the upcoming Rain Barrel Events we have scheduled.