Spring is here, but is it Jersey’s favorite season?

Monday morning at 6:29 spring arrived. We didn't have a terrible winter, so is spring a little more ho-hum this year? Usually we equate it with being freed of heavy winter coats, the excitement of baseball, blooming flowers, and even 'spring fever.' Is it your favorite season though? Sure, the weather is definitely warmer. But if you gauge it by that, then wouldn't summer top it?

Something that's nice about living in New Jersey is it's one of the states where you experience all four seasons. I lived in California briefly, but long enough to experience an entire year pass with the same weather every day. If you lived in Jersey all your life you might think, "Man it would be nice to have sunny weather and 78 degrees every day." You'd be wrong. It leaves you with no tangible way of feeling the passing of time. To me that leaves you feeling a little bit lost. The only real weather Southern California seemed to get was 'the rainy season', a few weeks in January. I remember overhearing someone saying how the rain made it "feel like the holidays."

My guess is most Jerseyans would say summer is their favorite season. Why? Well look at the Jersey shore. Going 'down the shore' is synonymous with being from the Garden State. It's the stuff of teenage memories and Bruce Springsteen songs. Summer is when you can really enjoy taking in a Somerset Patriots game or walking on the trails in Watchung. Or experiencing our last remaining drive-in movie, the Delsea Drive-in in Vineland, the way God intended, on a warm summer night.

My wife couldn't disagree more. She's a fan of fall. Loves the cool crisp air before it becomes uncomfortable like in winter. It brings Halloween and Thanksgiving. It brings football season, apple picking, cider, pumpkin pie, and wearing her favorite sweaters. You've never seen beautiful until you've seen her in one of those sweaters and some leather boots. She's made me a fan of fall, but I still wouldn't say it's my favorite season.

For me it's a tossup between spring and summer. Spring seems to bring a hope and optimism that summer doesn't hold. Perhaps it's simply that with spring and summer together, it's the warmer time of year and spring still affords the most of that time in front of you. By mid-August in summer I'm already dwelling on it ending the way some people have the Sunday afternoon blues dwelling on going back to work on Monday.

I've barely mentioned winter. Does it have its place? I guess if you're into skiing, snowboarding, or ending up in a ditch alongside 206 it does. I'd be surprised if winter doesn't come in dead last in our poll. Speaking of which, let us know on this first day of spring what your favorite season is. Your reasons don't matter; it might have nothing to do with the weather. Just pick one of the four.