Perpetual Ruminations

A Rift in Seasons

It's another beautiful day, temps in the mid 60s F here with hazy sunshine; we have had spring like weather for over a week now with it barely getting down to freezing at night. But, it's not spring yet and tonight the temperature will plummet down to the teens and tomorrow we may see it rise to thawing—maybe, before it drops down into the single digits. Wednesday we again will be in the fifties to low sixties; for the rest of the month we will see this teeter-totter effect.

Most of the snow is gone, very little ice is left, and mud has taken it's place until the frost is driven from the ground and the moisture can soak in. I'm not complaining, it's typical northern Minnesota weather, the period between winter and spring. Some years it' short, a couple of weeks, other years it can last for a month or more.

Yes, it's the temporal rift between seasons, a time with no formal name. A period of time that is neither spring nor winter, the fifth season. My neighbor described it yesterday in terms I have not heard before and I share this with hopes it does not offend anyone. "I call this time of year, Mother Nature's period and all we can do is put up with her mood swings." It's not an exact quote, he can be a bit more crude.

I would call it something different, myself. Maybe a combination of the two seasons in rift: Wing (Winter/Spring, but that may confuse some, "Hey Charles, have a nice wing."

Reversed would also work: Sprinter, but again it could be misunderstood by some. No, I think a new term should be coined to describe, and name, this temporal rift. Since we have snow and mud, I shall call this fifth season Smud!