It might be time to start saying the S----- word.

Spring, dear readers, Spring. Elevate your thoughts.

March is here. We’ve had Town Meeting. The Mud Season signs, which tell trucks over a certain weight to stay off dirt roads, are posted. The roads are indeed softening up, and some deep ruts have appeared, notably on the road to Thelma’s house, where they are deep enough to catch a car’s undercarriage. We timid drivers are forced to drive up the wrong side of the road, hoping not to meet anyone coming down.

But the real indicators are that Redwing Blackbirds (the earliest of the returning migratory birds) have been sighted in the Killington area, and the temperatures are on the rise. Yesterday the high was 43, today the high is (gasp) 47!!

It was so warm that I did barn chores at Thelma’s in a rain jacket over a sweatshirt and was warm. I went to the car wash, and by the time I finished driving the almost-2-miles up West Street to home all of the car below the windows was dirty again. I couldn’t deal with that. I filled a 5-gallon bucket with water, got out a sponge, a cloth, and a small saucepan, and sloshed water over the lower half of the car and washed it AGAIN. All out in the warm sunshine.

Ernie's porch window is open and he's taking a long nap on one of the porch chairs.

Saturday was No Sales Tax Day, so I bought a new lawn mower. The mower I bought when I moved here shouldn’t be ready to retire yet, but either because I just do not understand how to keep oil at the proper level, or because the mower guy does a poor tuneup job (depending on who I talk to, either is likely), the mower starts poorly, burns oil, and overheats. It’s done this since mid-summer 2008, and I’ve spent entirely too much money trying to get it to run right. So I’ve given up on it.

People have recommended Toro and Husqvarna but I’ve always had a Sears mower and I don’t switch brands easily. I got myself to the Sears appliance store in Barre at 10am, and the line of people was out the door. No Sales Tax Day is THE DAY to buy appliances and save 6%, which is not an amount to be sneezed at given the cost of washers, dryers, stoves, fridges and lawn tractors. Buy a walk-behind lawn mower, maybe you’ll save $10-15 bucks, but it's the principle of the thing.  I lucked out to find the Assistant Manager taking a break and asked him if there was any difference between a mower with a grass-catcher bag (a bag I never ever use) and one without. “Yes,” he said. “About $100. The engine is the same.” Well, that sealed my choice. But I’d have to wait over an hour to pay, and they were going to have to order that model anyway.

So later in the day I called the store and sure enough, the place was no longer overrun with people. I ordered and paid for the lawn mower. “Call me when it comes in and I’ll pick it up.” “Do you have a place to put it?” “Of course not. I bought it to save the sales tax. It will live on my porch until the snow melts and I can get to the shed.” “Well, it’s paid for and will have your name on it. You can wait to pick it up until April 15.” “Really? You will store it for me?” “Sure. We do it all the time.”

The week’s weather forecast is for nights in the 20s and sunny days with temps in the 40s. Perfect maple sugaring weather. A colleague at work started boiling last week, and saves vacation days in order to do his sugaring. The Howards started boiling yesterday.

A long-dormant urge to do a serious house-cleaning stirs within me. I just finished a hands-and-knees job on the bathroom floor. Thelma calls this “Spring praying”.

I am even tempted to try to dislodge the 3 feet of snow covering the daffodils, just to encourage them.