I love spring because lots of very cool things happen, as we move out of the colder winter months.
It is also a season where the fresh produce of fruit and vegetables remind me to prepare my life garden and produce for next year.
In spring, the birds seem to sing louder, the grass gets greener, the trout fishing starts, white baiting and coastal fishing get better and the snapper and other delicacies come in closer to shore.
The rivers look more inviting to swim in and I reckon people seem to get friendlier too.
We all magically transform from hibernation mode trying to "sleep" winter away, unless we have children at that age where we got dragged out to sidelines to do the good parent thing, and mittens and a hot coffee got us through it all.
Spring is the start of twilight golf season and the stockcar season which are two of my sporting highlights.
The stockcar season starts under the green flag at Paradise Valley Raceway on Friday with the fireworks meeting.
Sonja and the Rotorua Stockcar club do the smart thing of holding the fireworks display about midway through the meeting as soon as it is dark enough, so whānau can get their little tamariki home to hibernate again.
However, my favourite thing about springtime is stuff grows.
My scrawny silverbeet plants that struggled to provide a feed every few weeks through the winter months suddenly take on new life and produce a good feed every few days.
My nine fruit trees in my backyard and the grapevine start blossoming and little clusters of fruit and grapes start forming.
I enjoy going around and looking at the tiny fruit and thinking about the big fresh pears, apple, plums or grapes that they will grow into for us and others to enjoy later.
So how is your spring season progressing or are you still in winter hibernation mode?
Have you started getting out and about to your favourite summer sports or are the kids still dragging you along to their representative winter sports fixtures?
Ngahihi o te ra is from Te Arawa, Ngāti Tahu/Ngāti Whaoa and is a professional speaker, director, columnist, author, businessman, husband and father. www.ngahibidois.com