Field Notes: Mud Season

Mike Smith | OSI Executive Director

There’s a scene in the end of the movie The Perfect Storm where George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg are wrestling their fishing trawler through the hurricane-ravaged seas, and just when it seems all hope is lost, they crest a wave and see calm water and sun breaking through the clouds just up ahead. They’ve made it! They are safe…until (spoiler alert) out of nowhere a massive wall of water blots out the sun and well…things don’t turn out so great for our heroes.

I bring this up because usually every April I find myself describing this cinematic drama to any uninitiated friends as I try to convey what spring weather is like in Maine. It’s easy to be lulled into believing the seasons have changed as we roll out the grill and lawn chairs, but at any moment a blizzard could (and likely will) rise up and level our hopes of Vitamin D. Any attempt to put winter coats “away for the season” feels like a bold, if not downright arrogant, move.

Spring, at least in the Northeast, is mud season. It’s one of those “shoulder seasons” that we trudge through to get to the really glorious months of summer. But for whatever the season might lack in predictable weather, it makes up for with an impressive variety of opportunities to experience the outdoors. Skiing, biking, hiking, snowshoeing, paddling, climbing, camping, lounging, picnicking – they’re all possible this time of year. For some the challenge isn’t what to do, but how many different things to do in a given day. And whatever the mode of adventure, the reward is the opportunity to witness the earth coming back to life.

In honor of Earth Day, we here at OSI would like to encourage you to put aside your daydreams of summer and get outdoors. The smell of mud, the sound of water rushing downstream, the sight of buds opening on branches – it’s all a kind of magic worth experiencing. And usually all it takes is a few extra wardrobe changes, and a little faith that by July you really can put your winter coats away. Briefly.