Seasonally Yours

Seasonally Yours

by Alice Jane-Marie Massa

I’m wearin’ a winter coat in April,

wearin’ winter clothes in May.

Why is it in Wisconsin I am destined to stay?

Spring is almost nonexistent!

Do I show my discontent?

I wait and wait for summer;

then, like a wink, it passes by.

Warm months roll into autumn’s splendor;

and, of course, I want more and more.

All too soon, the painted leaves will fall,

the temperatures will fall;

and then, snowflakes will fall.

Colder and older, I must march on, march on,

march on through another Wisconsin winter:

with my fake fur-lined boots, I must march on.

March on to greet that special day in March—

the one that TV people with degrees

proclaim to be SPRING.

With all the snowplows, shovels, snow banks,

and all other such commotion of a Milwaukee spring,

I will tell you:

this is not my notion of spring!

The cold that snaps; the sleet that stings

do not make me think of springtime wings.

March on, March on—another year,

and I am still here,

on the Frozen Tundra, on the alleged first day of Spring.

P.S. (Paw Script)

Although I do not care much for the weather in March, many significant pages in my Dog Diaries are from the month of March. On March 20, 1980, Little Prince II passed away after being our family pet for more than seventeen years. Although I was teaching in Ohio at that time and Prince was living with my parents in Indiana, I knew that he had left us on that day; however, my dad drove to Ohio the following weekend to tell me the sad news. As many of you know, a photograph of Prince and an anecdote about his introduction into our family was featured on the inside panel of my 2012 Christmas card because this past Christmas marked fifty years since that little pup came into our lives.

On March 18, 1990, I flew to Michigan to attend Leader Dog School for the first time. Three days later, on March 21, 1990, I met my first guide dog—an absolutely beautiful golden retriever named Keller. This one day in March changed my life more than any other day and brought forth many happy days and years (23 and counting) of working and living with my Leader Dogs. Spring symbolizes change, and teaming with my first guide dog certainly symbolized an extremely positive change in my life. In all kinds of weather, my three Leader Dogs—Keller, Heather, and now Zoe—have certainly put a “spring” into my steps.

Best Wishes for a Happy Spring!
Seasonally yours,
Alice and Zoe
March 20, 2013, Wednesday