SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Spring has sprung

The Bird is on the wing

But that's absurd

The wing is on the Bird

EVERYWHERE on Nantucket, flowers are in bloom. Daffodils and Crocuses in April, Irises and other vibrant colors this month. The Hydrangeas are waiting in the wings. They are leafy green now and the buds are growing. They next sprout greenish white flowers like Broccoli, which turn into red or Hydrangea-blue depending on soil conditions. They are everywhere and last for weeks. The grass is green. Most yards are surrounded by hedges. In the winter these hedges are leafless and with their thin branches are invisible. You can see every detail of the houses and yards. In spring, the hedges fill in so that they form a wall of green that brings privacy to each home.

This rebirth of nature here is so much more profound than in my native country of Florida where it is green or greenish-brown all year in my yard. Some Ixora flowers come out and the Oak trees first shed their old leaves and make a mess, then they drop truckloads of pollen and we all get bronchitis for 2 months. Then the leaves sprout. Most of the other plants, except for the Impatiens flowers which require constant watering and die in summer, look the same in all 4 seasons.

In Nantucket, winter is brown and leafless except for the occasional evergreen. In spring, everything flowers in all the colors of the Rainbow, trees and shrubs turn green, and Robins and Cardinals flitter everywhere. Boats come back into the empty harbor. People come out of their houses and tourists return. Shops and restaurants open up. Parking regulations kick in. Tops come off JEEPS. The change is profound.

I used to snicker when I heard my old neighbors "up North" talk about the change of seasons and their unwillingness to give that up and move to the land of one season, Florida. I reminded them with weather reports from home that it was 70 degrees in December while they were up to their derriere's in Snow. I guess I did not get it. We just stared to come north for the summer months a few years ago. I still don't want to be here in December. I would suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder and have to be on Prozac. But despite the cold and some wet weather we have had this May, and expecting something similar in September...I am really glad we came up early. Florida reminds me of the story..."Have you heard there is a new Playboy Magazine for married men? It's just like the regular Playboy except that the Centerfold is the same girl every month. Kind of like Florida Weather.