Spring is Finally Here!

It\’s officially spring!!! The weather has slowly but surely been getting slightly warmer with each passing week, and Mother Nature even gifted us with a few days in the 70s! And with the sun setting later and later, it seems like winter will (hopefully) be behind us soon. 

With the weather being in the mid-50s to upper 60s for the last few weeks, we on the East coast have been spoiled with some really nice weather. There were a few days last week where I would get home from work and go read out on our porch and enjoy the comfy weather, even long after the sun went down. This is the perfect kind of weather, the perfect medium between freezing your booty off and drowning in your own sweat. It doesn\’t seem to last as long as it should, and I\’ve got to soak it up while I can!

Last weekend, the weather was in the mid-50s and the sun was shining, and Nathan and I decided to kick off our hiking season. We ended up going to Burke Lake and walked the trail there, although it wasn\’t much of a hike, as it was just a walking trail around the lake. The trail was just under 5 miles long, and it was a great afternoon spent enjoying each other\’s company and soaking up the sun. I\’ve never been to Burke Lake before, so I didn\’t really know what to expect. One thing I found really unique about the trail, was that every quarter mile (give or take) there was a different \”challenge\” you could try. These were actually really fun to do! Nathan couldn\’t do a lot of them since he still doesn\’t have full motion of his shoulder after surgery; but the ones he could do were fun to see who could do it best, and the ones he couldn\’t do, he just laughed at me as I attempted to do them! There was a balance beam where we had to see how far we could make it without falling; and there were some bars where you had to see who could do the most pull ups (I couldn\’t even reach the bar); there were inclined benches to see who could do the most sit ups; logs to see if you could jump from one to the other as many times as possible without falling, and a lot more. It made a long walk more exciting and it\’s definitely something I want to go back and do again – sometime when Nate has full use of his shoulders!

Although we have been very lucky with our weather out here in VA, it makes me feel kind of bad that my friends and family back in the Midwest have been having such a crappy winter. Not only have they been getting pounded with snow storm after snow storm; but now that the temperature is finally getting above freezing, they can\’t even enjoy it because of all the mass flooding that is now happening as a result of all the snow. Sioux Falls sounds like it was hit pretty bad with lots of flooding and the pictures I\’ve been seeing on Facebook have me worried about those who live there. So far, I know that my grandma and my brother\’s basements have flooded, and I\’ve seen that quite a few others can\’t even get to their houses because of the high water. My parents said that they haven\’t been having too many issues in Watertown yet, but with the lakes, I\’m worried that they will soon. Just know that I am praying for all of you and I\’m hoping this will pass quickly so we can all enjoy the nice weather that will soon be coming. 

Hang in there everyone! Spring may be officially here, but I\’m hoping it will start feeling like it for everyone soon enough!

Until Next Time!

Megan Reiffenberger