Back to reality.
That’s what Napervillians cried en masse this week upon returning from our out-of-town spring break adventures near and far. Whether to the warmth of coastal regions or even just driving trips a state or two away, many of us over the last 10 days welcomed the respite from the daily grind, even if this were a relatively mild winter by our standards.
With kids back in school Monday, that proved once again that most good things must end. And, boy, did it.
We all know that satisfying feeling we have while on vacation that we are somehow enjoying better weather there than what we’d left at home — ideally far better. I recall one spring trip a few years back to baseball spring training camps in Arizona, where March temperatures are typically in the 80s. While that would ordinarily be a vast departure from the weather here that time of year, no such luck on that particular trip.
While we sunned ourselves in the 85-degree Phoenix heat, those at home were enjoying much the same. Nice for them, sure. But that takes a little something away from the vacation, knowing that you haven’t really fled colder conditions at all.
Which made this year’s spring break especially nice. While we and some neighbors enjoyed a little time by the water in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the weather back here was on a roller coaster the likes of which we normally wouldn’t see until Great America opens later this month.
While we were in the pool, lamenting how some much-needed heaters there would help keep the water warmer deeper into the evening (#paradiseproblems), our Facebook and Instagram feeds were full of photos and videos from home of rain then snow then rain then sun then snow then … well, you know. You may have actually lived through it.
You know that other feeling you get on vacation, that the first half of the trip seems to crawl along at a just-fine leisurely pace until you reach the midpoint? After that, the back half of the vacation seems to fly by. All the more so when you know the manic weather you’ll return to.
So when we boarded our home-bound flight in sunny 82-degree temps, we dressed and braced ourselves for the 31 degrees with snow flurries that we knew would greet us when we landed at O’Hare. Watching the icon of our plane on the little in-flight tracker on my phone, I could almost feel the mercury dropping – like the pit in my stomach – as we inched closer to Chicago.
Dress for where you’re going, not for where you’ve been. This is the lesson learned from a different spring trip to Arizona – our first. That was the one where we left the sunny 80-degree temps of Phoenix and drove up to the Grand Canyon South Rim, some 7,000 feet above elevation, where we experienced a similar temperature drop. Don’t wear shorts to the top of the Grand Canyon in March. Rookie mistake.
I’ve lived enough places long enough, especially Illinois, to know that everyone feels they’ve got a monopoly on wacky weather. “That’s spring in (fill in the blank),” they’ll lament, like there’s nothing like it. “There’s nothing like it,” they’ll say.
Contrare. By its nature – literally – spring is a season of change. You just don’t ordinarily expect to see all four seasons in the same day.
Most ideally, we would leave cold weather behind as we all embark on our spring break adventures, during which Mother Nature gets those last annoying fits of winter out of her system, ensuring the return of blahs and bluster are far ahead late next fall, not something still to be dealt with now. We’d return to green grass and T-shirts, kids playing outside in shorts and baseball fields lined and manicured for the start of another season’s play.
We’d not worry if we’d get those last few necessary outdoor practices and early-season games in, or fear whether we’ve dressed warmly enough, or joke about needing hot chocolate as an in-game snack.
Yet here we find ourselves, after a winter that saw us able to practice outside in mid-December and again in mid-March, we’re struggling to find playable weather and field conditions the first week of April. Rain then rain then snow then cold – that’s the forecast for the remainder of this week. This Saturday’s Opening Day Little League games that we’ve anticipated for months now sit in the crosshairs, waiting to learn if they’ll be played.
Rakes and lawnmowers readied for spring cleanup sit mothballed a bit longer, for fear that yards and flowerbeds will still suffer more wintery ravage.
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Outdoor painting projects remain on hold, waiting for a prolonged period of warmth in which to complete them.
Spring wardrobe changeover starts, then stops, then starts again, only to be derailed by more temps in the 20s and 30s.
But this is home. And I wouldn’t change a thing.
Except the weather.
Rob Manker is a freelance writer who lives, works and parents in Naperville.
Twitter: @RobManker