Spring enters, stage right

I think it might have to do with this being a horribly snowy and long winter, but the first day of spring yesterday was just glorious. It was a pretty normal Saturday - hockey practice, a math tournament for middle school student (MSS) with a celebratory dinner for a job well done. A walk to the stream in the park behind our house. Normal stuff, but somehow it all seemed wonderful.

The hockey rink didn't feel so cold. msk scored two goals in a drill with an actual goalie. I think he's got pretty decent puck control. I'm not sure about how he'll do when people try to take the puck from him, but maybe that's next season's skill to learn. I think I saw him picking up his left foot while he was skating, even though nobody said anything to him. Add on the good spirit amongst parents for spring and the upcoming tournament and new uniforms and progress made. It was a wonderful practice.

Then as I sat through the last round of the math tournament I was blown away by how sharp these kids are. Maybe America's schools are failing kids in terms of STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math), but for at least 160 Maryland middle schoolers there's a lot of real math knowledge being passed on. Maybe MSS didn't get a trophy, but the team was uniformly strong, ranking at #9. I eventually gave up on trying to solve the problems and just enjoyed myself.

There was enough time for a park visit with msk before dinner so off we went with the dog happily sniffing the path that we haven't been on for months. The wild flowers were greening up nicely with the first blooming celandines glistening yellow. I was happy to soak up some sun while msk enjoyed playing in the stream, first walking on stones, but eventually getting soaked in the icy water. We went home for a warm shower.

A quick stop on the way home from the math tournament had garnered grilling meat with MSS picking her favorites after doing so well. That lead to a wonderful dinner, the first on the deck this year. Thee smell of charcoal and the sound of neighbor kids playing in the background topped it off.

The first day of spring. No complaints.