Spring is filled with questions

Resslin' Around by Casey Ressler

We did what? We did it when? You sure about that? Springtime always leads to those types of questions between me and a couple of buddies. As soon as the mercury hits 40 degrees, we're looking for a reason to go fishing, and &#8220we did it last year” is the only excuse we need to escape for a spring afternoon.

Last week alone, I had a phone conversation with one buddy about when we first went fishing last year, and how far off that is from today's date (about two weeks). Earlier in the day, I got off the phone with our sports editor, Jeremiah Bartz, who was trying to line up a &#8220very important business meeting” with me on Tuesday in Palmer, which, not coincidentally, is when Palmer Golf Course is scheduled to open. Fishing and golf - clearly, love is in the air this spring.

&#8220We were golfing in April last year, weren't we?” Jeremiah asked. &#8220Or was it May? June?”

I didn't feel like saying that him swinging and missing three times a shot isn't &#8220golf,” no matter what month it is, so instead, I threw out, &#8220I think it was May.”

I keep a little journal at home, detailing such things, and it's settled many an argument. It's mainly a fishing journal in which I write down the date and time, the weather, any highlights, etc., that way I know from year to year what to expect. Here's last year's entry for our first fishing trip, which, not to give anything away, was around mid-April at an undisclosed Valley location:

&#8220The snow was so deep that I fell through up to my waist with every step. It took me over an hour to go 50 yards. The ice made casting almost impossible at times, and it was cold most of the day. We tried everything, but we didn't even see a fish. Two other guys were there for a couple hours and didn't get a strike either. It was an AWESOME day!”

The fact I saw it as &#8220awesome” when I was post-holing my way to and from the vehicle without as much as a sniff from a fish tells you all you need to know about our winters - they are simply too long, even if we don't get snow.

Take a look around, and you'll see a renewed excitement, thanks to the warmer temperatures and longer hours of daylight. There are joggers and bikers on the bike paths, and they weren't there a few weeks ago. Undoubtedly, when we finally do get to the river or the golf course for the first time, we'll find a couple other hardy people who are ready to shed winter and get on with summer.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor. He's taking snowshoes on his first golfing trip.