A Vision of Spring

The fifth day of March- and we find ourselves on the doorstep of Spring. The Vernal Equinox is a few weeks away, that moment when day and night are equal in length. Then, the Earth will tilt over onto our side of the hemisphere, and the days will get longer, brighter, and warmer. Nature will wake up from her long winter’s nap, and eggs, milk and fresh vegetables will appear in the farmers markets once more, we’ll hear baby birds up in the trees, and the local zoo’s and gardens will tempt us with visions of baby animals, butterfly exhibits, orchid and tulip shows.

It’s easy to forget the “processes” of nature when you live in a year round climate. Pictures of snow and ice don’t bring home the reality of weather so much as actually experiencing it does, which is why so many of us travel up into the hills at this time for a day in the snow. It’s also a great way to delight the senses and go up for a day of spring- the fresh, cold nippy air, warmed by springs first rays of sunlight, so that it’s still cold in the shade if one gets a little too much exercise hiking up those brilliant green hills. A day of listening to natures chorus of birdsong, frogs ribbeting, hawks and ravens talking over the daily gossip goes a long way to banish the noise of traffic, schoolyards, and emergency sirens of the daily grind the rest of the time.

A few other events happening this month:

Daylight Saving Time happens on Sunday the ninth- don’t forget to set your clocks forward! After doing a little research on the topic, I’m still not convinced it is a good thing as it upsets everyone’s internal clocks so terribly, and it plays havoc with school and business schedules, but apparently it has been done several times throughout our history of civilization- even the Romans had a form of it at one time!

St. Patrick’s Day on the seventeenth- ostensibly to mark the introduction of Christianity to Ireland, but it’s really just an excuse to celebrate the Irish, their food, heritage and culture! Taking a slightly different view on the idea, my focus is more on the old stories of myth and legend, with a menu of old country favorites like Champ, Brown Bread, Vegetable Stew, Oatcakes, Cheddar Cheese and Shortbread.

And lastly, it’s the beginning of Convention season again – ConDor hits this month, on the 21^st , and runs the whole weekend long. A Science Fiction and Fantasy themed convention, it’s being held at the Towne and Country resort and convention center again this year. The costume theme this year is the American Revolution, and there is a Friday night English Country dance scheduled!

Hmm…the Faeries seem to be planning something elaborate for this month’s festivities- something involving Wigs, Clover, Clocks and- hey, that’s my copy of Soulless, give that back!