Weather turns

Temperatures hitting double digits on the summery side of zero were more than enough to convince people to hit the great outdoors.

Although winter has dragged on much longer than he’d like, Joe Stephens said Sunday he’s glad to finally see a break in the weather.

Stephens and several of his Punishers slo-pitch teammates hit the field in Current River, mere weeks ahead of the scheduled start of the 2013 season.

It couldn’t have come at a better time.

“It feels good. The snow is starting to dissipate, and it should be good for not only what we’re doing out here today, a little baseball practice, but hopefully golfing can kick in soon and people can get outside.”

Stephens said there’s just something about summer weather that picks up people’s sprits. It may be chemical in nature, it may be mental.

“I think it’s that vitamin D everybody gets from the sun, actually. It’s been gone here for awhile in the winter. It’s just nice to get outside, especially in Thunder Bay.”

Teammate Andrew Edwards spent the early afternoon working out the Punishers outfield corps, smacking fly balls to work the rust off their gloves.

Like Stephens, he’s glad to finally be outside, even if the mercury didn’t quite hit the heights promised earlier in the week.

“It’s good to be outside,” Edwards said, sporting a purple Toronto Blue Jays cap.

“It’s been a long winter and I can’t say how excited we are to get our spring training started, finally hit some balls and have some fun with the guys.”

Edwards said the wait has been too long, easy to see in the amount of time the team planned to spend on the field.

“I think we’ll be out here until our feet blister and we’re tired and can’t go anymore. This is great, this weather,” he said.

Frustrating doesn’t begin to describe the angst he’s felt waiting for the snow to finally melt away.

“I can tell you, I’m not a winter guy. I live for spring and summer, so it’s been very frustrating. But we live in Thunder Bay and it’s really nothing new to get snow in late April.”

The baseball crew weren’t the only ones enjoying the warmer temperatures on Sunday, although the threat of rain did dampen spirits a bit at the Prince Arthur’s Landing skate park.

Thirteen-year-old Patrice Poulin said he’s been getting the itch to start ramping up his bike routine and perfect his tricks with his friends.

“It’s been a long winter since the snow just arrived in April. We’ve been anticipating getting back to the skate park and trying to shovel the park off and it just keeps snowing. So now that the weather is in the 10s, I don’t think the snow’s coming back, so it’s a lot better,” Patrice said.

Environment Canada is forecasting a high of 14 C on Monday and 19 on Tuesday, albeit with a good chance of rain.