Fountain Day!

I know that technically spring begins with the vernal equinox, which is usually around March 21st, but those "facts" don't really matter to me. March 21st in Kansas City is often windy and chilly and feels and looks a lot like October. No, since moving here, I've discovered that spring actually begins on April 1. Why? Because of this:April 1st is Fountain Day in Kansas City. You probably didn't know that Kansas City was officially the City of Fountains, having more fountains than any other city excepting Rome. There are majestic fountains, small streams of water you barely want to call a fountain, and everything in between. Fountains are such a big deal here, there's even a website trying to keep track of them all. But starting November 1 each year, all the city's fountains run dry.
As a result, although I drive by this beautiful fountain on my way into work every day, in the winter it sits forlorn, dry, abandoned. Yesterday afternoon, I was headed home with Sam in the back seat and I saw the fountain's jets shooting high into the air. Even though it is still chilly here and new growth is only beginning sleepily open one eye towards the sun, it now feels like spring.