That's it, it's over.

Well, the winter of '09 is officially over!  Put the sweaters away, drain the gas from the snow blowah and get your swim trunks out.  What am I talking about, you ask?  Let me rephrase, the winter is over in FLA.  That's right boys and girls, after a few cold fronts, spring is back with the first pitch of spring training baseball!  Ah, the boys of summer are here again.

Oh, we had it rough in St. Pete this winter.  I actually had ice (yes, I-C-E) on my windshield about a month ago.  It had been so long since I had seen ice on my windshield that I almost forgot what to do.  O.K., it was pretty thin and I just wiped it off with my hand, but still!!  I felt like I was back home in Cambridge.  Getting up early to clean the car, heat up the engine and fight bumper to bumper traffic on icy roads.  Now, it wasn't exactly like that but traffic was heavy 'cause all the rest of the true Florida natives had no IDEA how to clean their windshields!

So, baseball is back and the Grapefruit league is underway.  The cold fronts are gone and the weather is perfect.  Spring is the season I love the most in Florida.  It's not hot and humid yet, but warm enough to break a sweat raking all the leaves in the yahd.  Playing golf or tennis is a joy and not a chore as it is when you play in July or August.  The mornings are crisp and the afternoons delightful.  Enough?  I get it.  As my brother Joe Mazzei would say, "Don't hate the player!"

So, as you endure one more snow storm, leaking basements and the flu, just think of me as I enjoy a Narragansett, watch the Sawx trot out prospect after prospect and think to yourself, why do I live here again?