Wicked Wednesdays we all weigh in on a topic, and then ask our readers to chime in as well. Last week we talked about spring cleaning. This week’s question, given that Memorial Day is coming up, and many a grill will be hauled out from winter storage, what is your favorite “it isn’t winter any more” outdoor activity?
Julie: Every spring, I try and do the Couch to 5K program, to get outside and moving. (I walk faster than I run, so this isn’t any great feat. Just makes me feel better about myself.) I also help get my folks’ summer house ready, which has meant dealing with gifts from mice the last three years. (Here’s hoping that won’t happen this year. Yeesh.) I also give myself or get a pedicure, and try to get my feet used to wearing sandals again. I live in a condo, otherwise it would be all about gardening as well.
Jessie: I head to the beach and start preparing the house my family has there for the season. I open the windows and remake all the beds with fresh linens. I stock my container garden and plant the window boxes. I rake out the garden beds and bring out the patio furniture. When I’m done I head to the beach and fly a kite.
Liz: Getting outside during the day – 
whether I’m working at the office or at home. If I’m at the office, I’ll grab a friend and we’ll head to Bushnell Park in Hartford and do a few laps, then grab a Starbucks on the way back. At home, I try to get Shaggy to the green for a walk. It gives me a good excuse to get out.
Edith: Let’s hear it for flying a kite after chores, the first pedicure, and laps at the park! For me, it’s eating at the table on the deck, preferably all three meals in the day. Planting the vegetable garden is huge. But a lot of it is just gazing at the fully greened-up trees,
lawns, and shrubs. Forsythia turns from yellow to green. Tree branches get hidden by emerald leaves. The garlic I planted in the fall pushes happily up from its hay mulch. Even my baby blueberries bushes sprout brilliant green leaves. Call me happy.
Sherry: This is the second week in a row I have to confess to having no special rites of passage or spring routines. Seeing this week’s topic made me ponder this. I decided that maybe it’s because since 1981 I’ve lived lots of different places with lots of different climates. I’ve moved, on average, about every three years. Perhaps if I stayed one place for a long period of time I’d settle into some routine but I’m not sure I even want to. I walk all year long through sleet and rain and dark of night but that’s only because I have a dog and a yard without a fence. I do love when spring buds out in wave after wave of blooming trees, flowers, and bushes.
Barb: I love being outdoors, and this spring has been so late in New England, I’m especially excited. I move my writing operation to the porch, especially our deep front porch in Boothbay Harbor, Maine where I am inspired by the views of sailboats, lobster boats, islands and sea birds. I also look especially for restaurants where we can dine alfresco.
Readers: What is your favorite “it isn’t winter any more” outdoor activity?
garden chores and 3 meals a day on the screened porch. Time to find the summer recipes, too (pasta salads, cold shrimp) and put the corn pot at the front of the cupboard.
Even thinking about fresh sweet corn makes me swoon, Margaret!
I try to find a little time to sit on my deck each day. Not always in a sunny spot, but to read and put my feet up. This only lasts until it gets 80+ degrees. Then I become a hermit until October!
A pleasant habit, Ramona.
I don’t think we have that in southern Arizona.
Jealous!
I don’t do mud runs in cold weather, so I generally skip November through February/March. Of course, you never know for sure what the weather will be in March-May, but I still gamble and sign up for mud runs during those months. And by the first mud run of the year comes around, I’m ready to go.
I should also point out I find it harder to get motivated to run when it is dark out after work or cold(ish, I know, I know), so as it warms up and is lighter, I am itching to get out and run.
I’m not very motivated to doing much when it gets dark out early! I do miss what passes for cold weather in Southern California!
Being able to eat on the patio and sit out there and read. This year we built a new patio with a roof, fans and retractable screens so even though the afternoon sun is back there we should be able to get much more use and enjoyment out of being outside.
My dream! A screened porch with a house attached!
This is the first year I’ve had a covered porch, and I love sitting out there in the rain!
Another porch person! It sounds lovely!
My CSA will start soon! Kale chips soon! I love that they do the consistent work to produce wonderful fresh veggies while I stay safe from allergens and insect bites. I do find walks far more enticing in spring before it gets too hot. Watching the change in trees from flowers to leaf is a treat. Yeah, life is GOOD!
Our local farmers market opens in May — I love going to it for the fresh produce!
Farmers market might be my someday option. For now, the discipline of weekly pre-paid deliveries “forces” me to eat more veggies and introduces me to new things.