Spring At School

I'm having what I can only describe as a case of Spring Fever today. I've done plenty of chores around the apartment, including putting fresh sheets on the bed and doing two loads of laundry. I just haven't felt motivated to do anything. I even let Hubby do his afternoon walk by himself instead of joining him.

The temperature has been a little cooler today, and the sunshine has only been sporadic. We even had a brief sprinkle this morning. And I've had the sense all day that I could be perfectly happy curling up with a book.

I remember a lot of days of spring fever growing up. I think it would hit everyone about the same time of the school year. As the days lengthened out and our surroundings woke up from winter, I don't think I was the only one who started thinking there had just been enough of the school year. It seemed like we started school in the late summer, and it was a race from one event to the other throughout the year.

By the beginning of April, competitive sports were on the downhill slide. There were still track meets, but there didn't seem to be as many of those in comparison with softball and basketball. And there were several years we didn't have a girls' track team. State Music Contest would still be looming, and maybe District contest early in April. But the endless practices were winding down.

If I were really ambitious, I would dig out the box with my school yearbooks to remind myself when the Junior-Senior play was held – I can't remember if that was March or April. It took several evenings of rehearsals to get that performance nailed down. We didn't have prom, but there was one final high school dance to honor the graduating seniors. And the Home Ec classes had their annual Fashion Show.

If you were a senior, there was the Senior Trip to look forward to and plan for, as well as baccalaureate and commencement. If you weren't a senior, there was a lot of rehearsal for those two events. There was also a lot of rehearsal going on for the annual Last Day of School program. No wonder we were all hit with Spring Fever!

I remember the strange feeling my senior year when graduation was over and I had to keep going to school (daily, I think) to rehearse with different groups for the Last Day of School. Such is the down side of being the pianist for both glee clubs and various small groups. I was fortunate that we were living next door to the school then. At least it was simple to run over at rehearsal time! But it really did feel different that week between graduation and the program.

The juniors always looking forward to that last week and a half of school, too – once the seniors left for their Trip, the juniors were, at long last, at the top of the school ladder! I remember what a heady feeling that was when we were juniors. We had one year left to leave our mark on the school.

I'm not sure there was a school year that ended without some sort of water pistol skirmish on the playground. The occasional water pistol was confiscated before or after school – no one dared bring them out during recess. And the really big day for water pistol wars was after the Last Day of School Program, after the always scrumptious carry-in lunch, while the grown-ups were either visiting in the gym or watching the active squad vs. alum softball games. They occasionally got out of hand, but they were generally enjoyed as a true sign summer break had arrived.