With the arrival of spring, the winter season has no choice but to retreat back into the godforsaken hole from which it originally sprung. Now, do not get me wrong, snow can be picturesque and winter break is great, and heck, even my birthday’s in December. But winter can be a real stick in the mud when it comes to finding fun and free activities to participate in. It is a little difficult to get any type of pick-up game going when hypothermia is a possible consequence, for example. For this reason, when spring finally rolls around I find myself appreciating the little things that come along with it. So here are my top five favorite things about spring, take ‘em or leave  ‘em.

1. Flip flops: If I had my choice, I would wear flip flops, or better yet go barefoot, every day of the year. Seeing as this is not entirely realistic in Harrisonburg’s climate, I jump at any chance to free myself from the confines of real shoes. I dislike socks even more than I do footwear with laces, so busting out my beat-up sandals is a near cathartic experience.

2. Music up, windows down: I often find that I spend more time driving alone, both to and from school and practice, than I do interacting with actual humans. But when it is warm enough to roll the windows down all the way, it makes driving much more enjoyable. I am also the kind of person who loves good music to sing to in the car, so blasting songs with my, ahem, “sick” sound system is a frequent occurrence. However, I normally try to control myself while stopped at an intersection and others are in view to avoid their stares of amusement at my one-man jam session.

3. Bloomage, sproutage and other Mother Nature novelties: I am aware that every natural occurrence has some sort of scientific explanation as to why it is happening, but I prefer to think that all things green randomly burst into bloom by source of magic or other supernatural phenomenon. Every spring, I look at the trees and notice that, all of a sudden, they have leaves. This always proves to be a nice surprise, and I find myself marvelling at how inexplicable nature can be, even when biologists everywhere have explanations to common spring happenings. Sorry to hate, Mr. Bair.

4. Stormy weather: Be it spring showers or violent thunderstorms, one of my favorite things about spring is the rain that accompanies the changing weather. Simple though it may seem, I love everything about the rain. The smell it gives off when drizzling on pavement and sidewalks, the fresh feeling it gives the warm air and the crashes of thunder that shake the ground are all reasons spring rain and I have such a tight bond.

5. Summer: Even in April, the summer state of mind has already started to infect my every thought. Much to my exultation, the coming of spring means that summer, and all of its infinite possibilities, are only so far away.