Nothing quite like springtime in the Midwest. The sun threatens to shine, the pollen is annoying the heck out of everyone, and you’re remembering just how pale your legs are as you put on shorts for the first time in months. I like to think of it as the great de-thawing. 

On the first warm day in the Midwest, you see everyone start to change. People start smiling again. They refuse to sit inside even though it’s barely 50 out. They’re having their first Miller High Life of the day earlier and earlier. Maybe even before noon. They’re planning backyard barbecues. There’s a beautiful feeling of hopefulness throughout the land. We’re shaking off our winter uglies and thinking about what lies just beyond the bend. But there will be some roadblocks in our way. It could still snow at any moment. We are never truly safe. Midwesterners understand this, just like they understand these memes that speak to their souls.