Opening Day

Winter has defeated me this year, more than any winter since that of 2003-04, when I first moved here.

That year, I was not only unprepared for things like lake effect snow and the perpetual grey that is a Central New York winter, that winter was the coldest the area had experienced since they started keeping records. It was also the second-snowiest.

This year, it just seems like it's been cold forever.

Sunday morning I woke up to bright sunshine and 17 degrees. Fahrenheit.

The Red Sox and Athletics played two regular season games in Japan last Tuesday and Wednesday, but baseball season starts today for real.

It is the day I look forward to starting in late October, after the World Series ends. That irrational thing we call "fandom" always brings me out of my shell when I get to follow the Red Sox day-to-day, but it also signals spring: renewal, green grass, trees blossoming, the chance to get outside at long last.

As Sunday progressed, the sun continued to shine, working the air above freezing. I sat, reading the last 75 pages of The Lost – a long, draining book that had become a metaphor for my winter – and listened to the last of the icicles crash from the eaves onto the roof.

Thursday, I will be at the ball park, covering Opening Day for the Chiefs, Syracuse's minor league baseball team.

They've replaced the Astroturf with grass, though I can't imagine the grass will be up by Thursday. At any rate, I'm sure the field won't be blue (nor will the photos).

It still might be too cold, mornings this week, to ride my bike to work – or even to think about throwing my bike on the back of my car. But sunshine and baseball are both signs that spring is on its way, and I'm ready for it like I haven't been in a while.