I drive from my apartment to the gym two or three times per week. The gym is located in downtown (and I use that term loosely) Wisconsin Dells. When I drove up there this afternoon, I saw the unmistakeable signs of Spring returning to the area: a duck boat crossing the road.

Phenology is the tracking of seasons through natural events: birds flying north, ice melting from the lakes, buds appearing on trees. In the Wisconsin Dells the seasons change just like they do in the northwoods, we just use different natural events to track the seasons:

Duck Boats are everywhere. These surplus WWII diesel-powered anphibious vehicles are run from a variety of companies in town. These boats give their riders an hour-long tour through the woods, along the Wisconsin River and give them an exciting splash into Lake Delton. The ducks’ return this year coincides with a week of unseasonably warm weather, Spring Break in many area high schools and colleges and a nice, sunny, warm Saturday afternoon. Duck boats remind of real ducks, for obvious reasons.

Tourists in this town are just like mosquitos in the woods. They’re everywhere. And the worst of the bugs always seem to be right where you are. Just like mosquitos, tourists swarm around the Dells’ hot spots, always impeding movement around town. As much as we dislike tourists (or mosquitos) we know they serve some purpose in this natural world we call the Wisconsin Dells.

Water Parks won’t open for a few more weeks, yet. As soon as the two largest outdoor water parks open, the Dells will be in full summer mode. Armies of seasonal lifeguards will be brought in from high schools and colleges all over the state. Thousands of over-weight, overly-white Midwesterners will flock to these oasises every day of the summer. As much as I enjoy the fun to be had at a Summer day at the water park, I’m currently enjoying Spring, and all it has to offer.

After recieving the book Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner for Christmas (I asked for it), I’ve tried to look at life from the point of view of numbers and statistics to find the “why” behind why people do what they do. I stumbled across this article by Dubner linked from reddit. Read it, then continue. (Oh, and bookmark reddit.)

Done? Good. There is something to be said for doing something “just because everyone else does it.” I’ve never understood these people that put up with inconviniences in life (even if they are just minor ones) simply because they haven’t the energy, motivation or intelligence to find a better way around them. I’ve always been one to try to optimize life — usually in terms of time, sometimes in terms money or in others of life’s niceties. Maybe it’s the engineer in me, maybe I just get it from my dad. Many times it escapes comprehension that people don’t think the same way I do — I guess that’s what makes this such an interesting planet to live on.