Spring has Sprung

Spring is here, at least for now, in NW PA. All the snow is gone, except for the piles left over from parking lot piles. The grass is already plotting against me...it's going to win this year. The cold days have given way to temps in the 60's to 70's, which is pretty good around here. The days have exceeded the 12 hour mark and are getting longer each passing day(hours of daylight, not the never-ending hours of work). My sporting clays winter league has officially ended. Even though I didn't get the chance to finish, I'm still happy with my performance. All the signs point toward summer. I've even had my students complain that my room was too hot! All the signs are there. Even so, my Barracuda still sits in the garage, awaiting several more big rains. It has never seen snow, except through the garage window, and has never experienced the rust inducing effects of salt, so it sits awaiting the rains which will wash the salt from the roads. Between the salt and the rubble on the roads, there isn't much room for a classic out there yet. Even so, I've seen several people out there, whether they don't understand or don't care I can't be sure.
Even my deer herd has diminished. The ones that remain are eating more than ever, but still looking pretty thin. I can clearly see ribs. I awake to a combination of bird songs and peepers, which isn't bad at all. Buds are coming out on some selected trees, which means it can't be far from being decent out. The only question that remains is how long before we are reminded that we live a bit too far north to get comfortable yet.
Opening day of trout season here is a big deal, coming in the middle of April. The number of bone-chilling, snowy starts to the season are countless. I avoid opening day, preferring to start several weeks later, after the bulk of the people have done their fishing for the year. There is just something about fishing shoulder to shoulder with others that ruins the spirit of the sport for me.
With the approach of warm weather comes the idea that school is nearly over and I need to solidify my summer employment. I work a second job throughout the year, but seek another during the summer months. I painted last year, just one person's camp, but it kept me busy. This year, I'm thinking that I'll get back into the oil business and work for a small independent producer. I went in once before on my own, lost two trucks, fired three people and just barely broke even. I learned a lot from that experience. I'd like to learn more. This time as an employee that will still be taking classes and will not have the potential losses hanging over my head. I'm looking at being on the leases and doing the grunt work which I haven't done for a while. Somehow, after a LONG year of school, this seems like a pretty good option. Heck, I dug out septics with a friend to earn money before(when the sites were too tight for back hoes), how could this possibly be worse than that? At least this time, with my experience, I have an idea of what I'm in for.
Maybe someday, I'll not have the need to work in the summers, but that doesn't appear too likely. I'll be a long time paying off my classes that I must take to keep teaching, taxes will continue to rise, the house will continue to need repairs gas will keep getting more expensive etc. It's a never ending battle I guess. So for now, I'll just look forward to summer, classes and dealing with "adults". I'm enjoying my class right now and have already implemented some of what I've learned. I look forward to new ideas in this class and the ones that will follow this summer. All is well. Sure there are negatives, but I don't see them right now. :)