Sure sign of spring. The crocuses are peeking out over my turf. Or so it seems.
To be honest about it, I never knew what a crocus was until a reader called the paper one day in early March to inform me. I hightailed it out to her house and two little buds were sticking out of the ground. A photo of the woman pointing to the tiny sprouts wound up in the next day’s edition.
I am not the most observant fellow when it comes to these matters, but I have noticed the snow begin to disappear and nature lovers out in full force, looking at birds and flowers. A cardinal showed up at my feeder the other morning, no doubt a harbinger of spring. And the robins are beginning to appear.
If nothing else, it makes me feel good about the whole experience. After a hard winter’s snow and cold, I was looking for symptoms of spring. It’s the one season of the year when everything seems to come alive.
Trees and shrubs begin their blossom. Home-owners begin planting their grass, only to spend the summer months behind a lawn mower.
My neighbor is big into birds and when he tells me he observed a scarlet tanager that afternoon, it’s news. With regard to ornithology, I only know two birds. One is a cardinal—and the other isn’t.
Truth be told, I like New England best for its seasons. There’s something to be said for each one. Summers are usually ideal when families get together for cookouts and reunions. Autumn comes alive with its foliage bursting with color. Winters can offer its sense of beauty, especially with a snow-capped tree after a fresh fall.
But spring will officially arrive on March 21—and not a moment too soon.
I saw some teenagers the other day walking home from school in the cold. They were dressed in short sleeves like it was May. Perhaps they were celebrating spring’s arrival a bit early.
But that was not the case.
“It’s not cool to bundle up anymore,” I was told. “Today’s generation dresses light. They’d rather freeze to death than be seen in a winter coat and parka.”
Now that I’ve been retired three years, I don’t need to be working to ask for a day off. Every day is spring in my life. I used to blame my inertia on spring fever, whenever I got lazy and didn’t want to heed the call. In school, it was the mating call.
Along with the season comes a list of household chores waiting to be addressed. Let’s put a fresh coat of paint on our bedroom walls, clear out the basement, and get the yard in order. Another sure sign is the papers I receive through the mail for my income tax. It always sends my head in a tizzy. On the other hand, with Daylight Savings Time set to begin March 14, an extra hour of daylight is bound to have a calming effect.
The other day, we started our spring cleaning and the windows were wide open. It was 50 degrees outside, hardly the comfort zone. My wife enjoys accelerating the seasons.
“I’m getting rid of all the germs that have accumulated in this house over the winter,” she brought out. “Suck it all in.”
I assumed she meant the fresh air and not the bacteria.
With Easter a month away, out came the bunny rabbits and other artifacts associated with spring. The house was suddenly undergoing a transformation, designed to make us all feel a bit better.
Soon the golf courses will be agog with activity and the kids will be playing their baseball in the fields. Oysters will be disappearing from restaurant menus and the first timid appearance of the asparagus will be digested with melted butter.
It won’t be long before I’ll be out on the lake fishing to my heart’s content and playing a little b-ball with the boys. It used to be one-on-one, but is now reduced to a less vigorous game of foul-shooting.
The greenhouses will open and spring planting will ensue.
Tell me, is there anything better than that springtime stroll along the beach or perhaps that short hike in the mountains where the air is still cool but refreshing.
I’m as sensitive to the first call of spring as any of my nature fellows. But for the kind of spring that needs a biology textbook to interpret it, I have little use.
About the best thing we can all say about spring is that the season comes along when it is most needed.
Tom Vartabedian
Latest posts by Tom Vartabedian (see all)
- Vartabedian: My Final Column - November 13, 2016
- A Hat to Match Any Occasion - October 19, 2016
- More Smiles Keep the Frowns Away - October 12, 2016
Be the first to comment