(No, I'm not nuts... that's the first line of an e.e. cummings poem about the delights of spring.)

Am I the only one who hates spring? I love flowers, I love soft blue sky, sure... but spring always makes me feel out of sorts. Edgy. Anxious. Maybe it's all the Changes. Maybe it's the associations I have with being depressed in spring. Maybe it's that spring really is a fraud. I dunno.

People think I'm nuts when they gush "Oh, aren't you glad winter's over and spring is here?!" and I say "Well, actually, I don't like spring all that much." I might as well say that I don't like Christmas or chocolate. ;)

Tell me I'm not the only one.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

Answers

I don't dislike spring, but I do feel more like jumping out of my skin during this season than I do at other points in the year. I have taken to planning vacations in spring so I have something new and positive to focus this weird energy on.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

With allergies like mine... spring is the ENEMY! My doctor just stocked me up with pill and spray and inhaler scrips, the countdown is on.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

It's the mud.

I like fall much better, even though it means winter is coming and summer is over. They're basically the same season, fall and spring. Same temperatures, same rain, but at least in the fall you don't have melting snow which creates more mud than God. In the fall the flowers are still mostly up and the trees still have leaves until close to winter when they dry up and blow away. Spring has bare trees, empty flower beds, the threat of snow, and mud. It's the mud.

My birthday's in spring, though, so that's good.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

yeah Dwannie, like I could just let that one slip by (I hope you'll excuse my poor grammar there, btb.)...

I HATE SUMMER. Spring is the precursor to my most-hated time of year, and marks the end of my favorite season, winter. So one guess whether I like it or not. *wink* All I can do is grit my teeth, wear lots of black clothing in protest, and count the days til autumn.

Which I do. 187 to go, counting today.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

Okay, I'm out of step. I love Spring. It has to be my favorite season. And springtime in the Rockies makes for a wonderful place to live. I like the moderate temps, the storms, the fact that everything is being reborn and coming alive again. Summer gets too dang hot and just drags on forever, so I enjoy Spring while I can.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

I adore spring. I'm allergic to practically everything all year round, so spring doesn't pose any more of a health risk to me than the other seasons. I have some time off coming up soon and I fully intend to be out in my yard checking out the tulip and other bulb growth or on my bike in the ravine near my house. This winter has been so long in the Toronto area. I can't wait for it to be over.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

I live in San Diego, so I don't know...we really don't have seasons. ;)

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

I like the idea of spring much more than I like spring itself. I like the whole idea of coming out of winter, the cycle of rebirth, etc. I love to see the first flowers come up - seeing the first crocuses and daffodils make me so happy. However. I hate the mud, as Deb mentioned. I hate the fact that it means summer is around the corner, as Klee mentioned. I don't like summer either. So even though I want spring to mean all these wonderful things for me, really it just feels ominous. Oh, and I never know what to wear in springtime. I can never find the right jacket.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

Hmmm. I pretty much like spring, but I can totally relate to feeling edgy. Spring fever....it's here and it's a killer. I'm not the only one here at the office who's feeling it, there are a few of us who are just feeling restless, somewhat unmotivated, a general type of malaise that can slide into more profound feelings of unrest. I get this way every year, kind of sassy and impatient. I feel like ditching school, but I'm not in school, so I'd be ditching work. So beautfiul in Southern California today, a beach ditch day for sure. I want to go shopping, or eat cookies & watch 80s movies. Or have an affair. See? It's crazy, that old spring fever.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

Spring is by far my most favorite time of year. I've always seemed to feel this way, and it's only in the past few years that I've strated to appreciate the beauty of fall, since that always represented death and darkness and cold and going back to school and blah. My senior year in high school, a classmate of mine died in a car accident in the Spring, and I remember looking out the window a few days later and seeing the buds on the trees, and thinking how horrible it was that everything was coming back to life right after this horrifying event. Like Maggie, this winter has felt like a long one, and I am so thrilled the days are getting longer and soon I won't have to wear my huge, bulky coats.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

I like spring too and it's been spring here for well over a month as far as the flowers are concerned.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

I hate spring! It's depressing and squishy. it's never sunny in Ohio. Spring means grey skies and the beginning (sp?) of tornado season ACK!...Bring me fall back and i'll be happy.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

Spring can make me restless... as if there things I SHOULD be doing, cleaning, culling. Autumn seems to be a time for settling in, spring a time for action. I, too, enjoy the flowering trees, the smell of newly mown grass, planting new ivy geraniums... but I also feel vaguely impatient. Perhaps it is the lure of the Chinook wind? ---

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2001

See, I wish I *did* like it. Rebirth and cycles? Totally dig it. Tulips and daffodils? Love them. But, oh, the spring fever!

I've been trying this year to get into the swing. I ditched my dark matte lipstick for a raspberry gloss and painted my nails light green. I splurged on a boquet of lilies. I started looking up pasta primavera recipes.

Alas, spring anxiety lingers....

Maybe re-reading The Secret Garden will help....

-- Anonymous, March 20, 2001

I live in Florida, so basically, there are no seasons, per se. But my birthday is in 9 days. Send presents UPS, please. Cash or checks are acceptable. :-)

-- Anonymous, March 20, 2001

I also love spring but hate summer. It's the clothes. Spring time is when you can wear light clothes with a light jacket, but summer time is when you have to lose the jacket. I feel too exposed without my long sleeves.

But spring is also that one weird time when I start liking bright colors, and come fall I have this collection of pastel clothing and brightly colored sheets that go into the donation bag while I try to remember what possessed me.

-- Anonymous, March 20, 2001