Kevin Truth be told, I thought this day would never come, especially during that awful (and deadly) weather we had back in February. Saturday was the first day of Spring 2021, or the Vernal Equinox for the Northern Hemisphere.
This means the astronomical start to the season, while we fell into meteorological spring at the start of the month. In my neck of the woods, we’ve had some warmer weather, followed by days of cold, almost freezing rain, after the snow melt and subsequent refreeze until it was gone as of about a week and a half ago.
Since the first day of spring fell on a weekend, and since I save my posts for the work week, I figure, why not write about it now?
In my neighborhood, there’s usually sports practices going on, sports team games at the facilities nearby, with some generating crowds big enough to where people park all over the neighborhood. Sometimes they’ll even block our driveway while they’re at it!
In those cases, there’s enough of a crowd that getting through the neighborhood’s impossible by car, and almost as bad on a bike or on foot.
This time a year ago, that wasn’t the case on account of the pandemic. The neighborhood became a ghost town before its’ usual time, and things just weren’t the same as they were the year before.
This year, I ended up ringing in the start of spring with a trip to Target, and while I had the second wind in me, I walked back home instead of taking the bus. It was my way of taking in the warmer weather and the sights while it lasted, mulling over ideas for the last two assignments I have left for my day job before I send them out, and ideas for this blog.
I made my rounds at the mall before I got to Target, and saw something that was a huge shock to me: Victoria’s Secret was gone! I was floored to see the two store locations they’d occupied since forever completely empty. The smell of Dream Angels Heavenly, the butt-floss displays on the manikins in the window, the blazing neon pink lights, and the HD screen with footage from the VS Fashion Show runway, now gone less than a month after the last time I’d been able to make it out there.
On the flip side, the arcade was packed, even with social distancing measures in place! Yeeeahh, that’ll be a nope for today. I’ll go back later in the week when everyone’s elsewhere with other obligations instead.
I finally get over to Target after I’d gotten sidetracked for one last time, this time at Five Below, and go in with a plan. I wanted that lamp I’d had my eye on since we got the notice to move, and this time, with my coupons, I was gonna get it. Unfortunately I forgot to get the type of bulbs I wanted for it, but I’ll go back sometime this week when the weather cooperates and I can clear a spot on my schedule from the move and the last of my day job assignments to do so.
I could seriously stay at Target all night. If they were a 24-hour business the way Wally World used to be, that’s where I’d be, haha.
I also got the chance to see a few clothing items I found online and wanted to wait until I saw them in person to make a judgment call either way. Some of it, I’m glad I held off, since I wasn’t wowed when I saw them in store.
Others, I knew for sure I’d be adding to my list to buy in the near future. Maybe after the move, to make moving my wardrobe that much easier.
It makes me so glad I have a plan in place to keep myself from buying stuff I’ll regret later on.
I finally decided to wrap it up, call it a day, and head back home before I ran out of steam. On my way home, I stopped by the playground of an elementary school where some kids I once knew attended. The playground had changed so much in recent years, but for old time’s sake, I stopped for a quick run at the hopscotch.
No surprise I sucked at it, haha. I’m sure the Doc Martens I had on probably didn’t help.
Doc Martens and hopscotch: not even once.
As I approached my neighborhood, I saw a family in their backyard having a barbecue. Kids were on the trampoline, and others were on the deck in lawn chairs, with the music cranked up. It reminded me of my old neighborhood, and the way this one neighbor would have a cookout on a regular basis.
Maybe that’s one more thing I’ll do after the move. I seem to have gotten the hang of it for the most part after I tried it out for the first time last summer.
Over to you, readers. Did you do anything special for the first day of spring? Drop it below, and let’s talk of warmer weather and brighter days ahead.
