Spring . . . Where is it?

Somewhere I am sure it is spring like. It just doesn't feel like it here in Minnesota. St Paul Public Schools is now on "spring break" for the next week. Looking at the forcast for this week -- you could fool me that it is spring.

But really spring comes in many forms -- bed springs, spring in your step, flowers spring up, spring in your ink pen, spring colors, springs on your car, and so on. But here is what Wikipedia says the definition of spring is:

Meteorologists generally define 4 seasons in many climatic areas, Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn (or Fall). These are demarcated by the values of their average temperatures on a monthly basis, with each season lasting 3 months. The 3 warmest months are by definition Summer, the 3 coldest months are Winter, and the intervening gaps are Spring and Autumn. As such, Spring when defined in this manner and when begining on a monthly basis, rather than a specific date, can vary per region. In the vast majority of northerly hemisphere locations Spring occurs during the months of March, April and May. (Summer is June, July, August; Autumn is September, October, November; Winter is December, January, February.) The vast majority of Southern Hemisphere locations will have opposing seasons. ^[1]

According to the astronomical definition, spring begins on the Vernal Equinox (usually March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere, and September 22 in the Southern Hemisphere), and lasts until the summer solstice (usually June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and December 21 in the Southern Hemisphere). In 2009, spring fell on March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere. According to this definition, therefore, the day called Midsummer's Day in some traditions is the first day of Summer.

According to the Celtic tradition, which is based solely on daylight and the strength of the noon sun, spring begins in early February (near Imbolc or Candlemas) and continues until early May (Beltane).

Unlike the other three seasons, people in relatively cool climates are likely to use the astronomical definition for the beginning of spring in popular jargon but retain the meteorological definition for the other three seasonal turning points.

The phenological definition of spring relates to indicators, the blossoming of a range of plant species, and the activities of animals, or the special smell of soil that has reached the temperature for micro flora to flourish. The first swallow to arrive for the flowering of lilac may be the indicator of spring. It therefore varies according to the climate and according to the specific weather of a particular year.

Okay, so it's more information than I wanted to know. But spring will come and with it warmer, sunnier weather and the "Hope" of summer.