Rick Hege: Today, this year, I am just laughing at the question.
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Gemma Seymour: When the mud stops.
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Gene Herman: Peepers and wood frogs. It's always them regardless of the date they start their song.
Amara Cunningham: We heard a single peeper last night. It's as though he was calling out for his friends who hadn't arrived yet to the party.
Gene Herman: I'm betting they wake up Sunday or Monday when it tops 60 degrees F around here.
Amara Cunningham: I think you're right. That lone peeper sounded a little mournful at the absence of his friends.
Cindy Mears: When I start hearing and seeing the geese heading north. And the air has that certain smell when it's raining like it does today. The scent of spring.
Rick Hege: Ha, ha, ha, ha! I was out shoveling the most recent storm. Two geese were squawking, and I watched as they headed north. They got to the house across the field from me and did a quick U turn and headed south. Made my morning, it did.
Cindy Mears: Hee, hee, hee! I'm sure they're a bit confused!
Rick Hege: I got a good laugh while I went about cursing the wet heavy crap.
Cindy Mears: High 70s to low 80s midweek next week.
Rick Hege: I know!
Cindy Mears: I'm ready - well, maybe not for 80s, but 60s and 70s would be nice.
Rick Hege: Yes, indeed: 60s and 70s. Nothing beyond that. ;)
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Judy McGee: I am looking forward to seeing my flowers - daffodils and tulips. Right now, too much snow. On the way home from Bellows Falls last week, I saw an entire field full of geese. It was awesome! If they are back, then spring is coming!
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Robin Zegge: When the pre-dawn peeping of the birds replaces my alarm clock.
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Tim Johnson Arsenault: The first pitch of Major League Baseball season.
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Bill Sweet: When the basement dries out.
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Janet Athens: Hearing spring peepers, having the windows open, going out without a jacket, the green of new leaves, and blossoming trees and flowers.
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Eileen Guerino Roach: When bright green is barely showing on the trees.
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Beverly Greer Langeveld: When the daffodils are in full bloom.
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Peggy Weiss: When the forsythia bloom and my allergies kick in.
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Carla Fogg: Taking the snow tires off my car.
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Janie Crossmon: When my horse sheds his winter coat and then we ride by the ponds quietly to listen to peepers. Each day smells so fresh.
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Dorothy Grover Read: When I start to dream in colors of asparagus and radishes.
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Peter MacDonald: Heat's turned off.
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Elizabeth Smith: When the Halifax roads have given up their frost completely and the mud ruts disappear.
Molly Stoner: That's a long wait, as I recall!
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Jennifer Gosnell: When the birds start singing before dawn!
Judy Berger Tharp: Yes!
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Leslie Sullivan Sachs: Long underwear retired. Must remain off til October.
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Howard Prussack: When I'm delivering tomato and basil plants to my customers, this week!!
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Steven Twiss: Spring has arrived when the crab apple and cherry trees bloom.
Judy Berger Tharp: And we don't get a frost and have the lovely blooms get damaged.
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Chrissy Howe: Usually the sound of peepers and birds, and when the rain starts to smell musty. When the buds on the trees hint at green in silhouette. This year, it will be when I can stop loading up a “last” bag of pellets at the store and make the kids shoo outdoors.
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Laura Austan: People sitting on steps in downtown Brattleboro, skunk spray in the air, and random objects appearing in the melting snowpiles.
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Margie Serkin: Retiring the down comforter.
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Dolores Breen: When the sap stops running!
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Annamarie Pluhar: Putting in the cat window!
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Dianne Howard: Canada geese returning, wild turkeys mating, woolly worms (saw one recently), green shoots pushing up through the dirt, and, of course, peepers. :)
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Alan Surprenant: When I cheat and visit friends in central North Carolina.
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Deborah Lazar: My cat is shedding like crazy.
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Christopher Chapman: Planting peas outside and tomatoes inside.
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Molly Stoner: When Walker Farm opens! And I look most forward to Walker Farm opening. (That just may be a euphemism for getting my hands in the soil...and all that then transpires in the soul.)
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Charlene Wakefield: When buckets magically appear on my maple trees.
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Linda Carlsen Sperry: When plants and trees that look dead develop buds, then flowers, then leaves! A miracle every time!
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Judy Berger Tharp: When I'm happy with the decision to take down the winter's quilted, crunchy curtains and I open the windows for periods of time before sundown.
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Anne Latchis: When there'll be crocuses to bring to school. And everything is just a little green.
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Linda Taylor: When the summer birds return.
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Steev Lynn: Opening day at Fenway Park.
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E. J. Barnes: The first housefly. No, it's not something I look forward to, it's just a sure sign that spring is really here.
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Karen L. Cribari: In trying to answer this question, I realized it's not any one thing, but that moment when all at once there is jubilant birdsong, a colorful bloom, warmth from the sun, and an earthy aroma in the air. Then it seems less of a sign, and more of a surety.
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Carol Levin: When the flowers start coming up.
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Jessica Callahan Gelter: When you go outside and it smells like mud or fresh dirt.
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Margie Pivar: Peepers.
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Dan Yates: May 1st for me, and what I love the best is the sound of the birds singing as they begin to stir before the sun rises!
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Olga Peters: When I see the first crocus! Which happened on Friday at about 10:30 a.m. on Walnut Street.
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Janis Hall: When Top of the Hill Grill opens. (It has!)
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Jane DeNeefe: When I lived there, it was Green Up Day.
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Serenity Forchion: I don't believe any of it until May!
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Margot Stone: When the robins arrive.
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Ira A. Wilner: When my compost pile finally emerges from the snow!
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Judy Acampora: When I can go outside without my down jacket.
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Vivi Mannuzza: Not just one thing; I have been fooled several times. Robins, no; they are here in February. Something in the air, yes. Snow gone from the deep forest, yes. Ramps. Migrating flocks of Oregon junco, cedar waxwing, goldfinch. Dogs panting night and day. Income tax return. Easter Sunday. Daffodils finally blooming. Most looked forward to: opening windows when the wood stove is no longer needed.
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Stephanie Salasin: For me, it usually, but not always, happens in this order. First sign: Smoke and steam from sugar houses. Second sign: Hearing the geese return. Third sign: Peepers. Fourth sign: When you can smell the earth. Fifth sign: Crocuses. The list goes on and on. I love each step of the reawakening.
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Pete Crossmon: April 15. When I used to plow, the contract said you had to be on call from Oct. 15 to April 15. No vacations, no holidays.
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Chuck Mayotte: April 30. I've plowed some years into May. Don't second-guess New England.