Cherry blossoms and migratory birds get a lot of press coverage as the seasons change, but the warming weather this past weekend reminded me of some lesser acknowledged – but no less legitimate – signs of spring:

1. An Amazon overnight package of mass quantities of sunscreen shows up on our porch following a panicky late-night purchase while looking at the weather forecast.
2. I begin a 4 week period of sounding like I’m wearing a scuba mask and looking like I’m constantly on the verge of crying. What are you allergic to, you ask? Spring itself, evidently.
3. I enforce the annual “rage clean” of our garage.
4. The number of chalked hopscotch courses on our neighborhood sidewalks explodes at such a rate that some wonder when it is technically considered graffiti.
5. McDonald’s starts carrying their delicious icees, & our family unit’s consumption is considered by market analysts to have a positive correlation to company shareholder value.