Coming soon
Originally published 01:54 p.m., February 12, 2008
Updated 01:54 p.m., February 12, 2008
February is the curtain that hangs between winter and spring.
Yes, spring is almost within reach.
Most people will say that the season begins March 20 with the vernal equinox, but I push things up a bit. In my world, spring starts March 1, because of course, once you bring animals onto the calendar, lambs and lions and such, you have to call it spring.
Although I’m willing to hand the entire month of March over, that doesn’t mean that the wintry weather ends.
Surely you remember the snow that fell last April. There was snow on tulips, on lilacs; my dogwood blossoms turned black.
That late and killing frost snuffed local apple crops. It also destroyed the delicate sand hill plum blossoms -- which meant no sand hill plum jelly: a sad situation for many of us.
Winter has bombarded us constantly this season: snow, ice, snow, snow, sleet, snow, more snow. Every week, another storm.
Emporia lucked out, avoiding that December ice storm which shut down power for much of the state. Hanging on to 32 degrees that day, Emporia slid through with rain, not ice.
With each snowfall comes the halite, the salt. Salt is not just for French fries; it holds my car on the roads, keeps me from sliding into other vehicles and ditches. So thank you, Mr. Road Crew Men, for shaking the salt onto streets and highways.
Maybe my hearing is a little too good, because I’m troubled by the sound of that salt eating away at my car doors and fenders. Scritch, scritch, scritch. Put an ear to your car hood and you won’t hear an ocean, just the sound of salt etching metal.
All the halite that adhered to my car has had me plunking quarters into the carwash several times a month. Whenever the temperature rises to 40 degrees, I’m spraying soap onto my car. Then a week later, I’m back. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Even winter lovers are saying, “Enough, already.” So yes, it’s time to move on. It’s time to break up with winter.
Winter has lost its charm and we’re all looking forward to a fresh season. A golfer I know is ready to come out swinging. A gardener friend wants to get mud on her knees while cleaning out flower beds. She spent January circling items in her seed catalogs.
It’s mid-February and we’re slowly emerging from the coma of winter. Darkness no longer barges into our lives on the way home from work. We get a stripe of evening light between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.
February is half gone; March is on deck. Time slides by. We stand still and the days and months pour over us. The calendar never stops turning.
Here and now, we wait for the curtain to rise on a new show, wait for the chain reaction of spring: the rain, the sun, the warmth, crocus, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, lilacs, iris, and peonies. When the tag-team activity begins, it’s a glorious season of life and color.
Already our front yards are turning over. Lawns are no longer the color of straw. Green seeps in as chlorophyll crawls up blades of grass.
Soon, the south wind will airbrush Kansas, coloring our towns with green and lavender, yellow, pink and white. Remember how pretty Emporia is when the Bradford pears and the redbuds burst into bloom?
It’s been a rough few weeks in this town since news of the Tyson job cuts. The world seems broken, our paths uncertain.
Troubles have landed in Emporia. But like the seasons which come and go, our troubles also come to pass.
In this unsettled world, we can still count on the change of seasons. Before you know it, spring herself will be knocking on the front door, wearing a warm smile, holding a bouquet of flowers. Let her in.
“Flyover People” is online at www.flyoverpeople.net. • Cheryl Unruh can be reached at cheryl@flyoverpeople.net.
bharz (anonymous) says...
Great commentary, beautiful stuff, as always!
February 13, 2008 at 9:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )