It has been
an odd year for weather, so far; warming some days only to turn cold that
night; cold for several days and again turning warmer. Deborah said a few days ago, "I am tired
of winter clothes and I am ready for spring."
Indeed!
We have had
a changing of the guard at our bird feeders over the month of March. Our adult orioles that have been with us
since January have disappeared (although the juveniles are still here), and we
have a fresh crop of brown-headed cowbirds and red-winged blackbirds.
A couple of
weeks ago we were riding somewhere and saw a whole grouping of white blossomed trees. We knew that some of them were pear, of some
variety but were unsure of the rest.
Dogwoods were not blooming yet, which led to the mystery.
Last
weekend they printed the Macon Telegraph on pink paper. This bit of encouragement meant only one
thing (in Middle Georgia): Cherry blossom time!
Nearby Macon has had an annual festival for over 40 years to celebrate
the blooming of the more than 300,000 Yoshino cherry trees in the Macon-Bibb
County area.
We have an
old blooming cherry tree in our backyard. Although I am not sure if it is Yoshino or
some relative, it certainly does not follow the official blooming period of the
Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon. It
blooms on its own timetable. Colonel
Lucien Whipple planted it here more than 40 years ago. Every year we wonder if its time has come to
depart from the living, but it remains.
Every time the
weather looks promising this spring, it seems to turn cold again. This past weekend, especially Saturday was
just gorgeous. Then it was cooler Sunday
and Monday. Tuesday was rather nice and
it was 28 degrees Wednesday morning. My
wife longs for different clothes to mark the beginning of spring and summer. I do too, but even more, I’m ready for the
end of cold feet and dry, itchy skin season.
To me there
is something invigorating about the days getting longer. I understand that the length of daylight is
an ever-changing thing, but springtime is when it really hits me that the days
are getting longer.
I have
lived my life within a ten-mile radius of Cochran, but I have visited northern
cities. Having spent time in the Chicago
area, I wonder how people stand the short days of winter there. With the sun not coming up until after 8 AM and
setting somewhere around 4 PM, you only see sunshine during the weekends, and
not a lot even then. I am not prone to
depression, but that would certainly wear on me. At least I think that it would.
I hope to
have some lettuce and other edibles planted in the next few days. Hopefully, the cold snap of below freezing Tuesday
night is our last this season. I am
ready for some locally grown tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries and fresh okra
that warmer days will bring.
Of course, I’ll
probably have a different opinion in late August.
