<a href="mailto:gordandk@aol.com">By GORDIE LITTLE</a>
Small Talk
March 23, 2008 05:27 am
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Spring has sprung. It came in as part of a package that hasn't been seen for a long time and in ways won't be repeated for many years.
Time change, St. Patrick's Day, the vernal equinox, Good Friday, Easter. It all seemed to go down so early this year.
The reasons are complicated, but the bottom line is that, for me, the snow has to melt a great deal more before I get true spring fever.
Nonetheless, I do have some springtime observations.
Two weeks ago, our son Rodney called to say his yard on Maple Street in Morrisonville was full of robins.
As much as we feed birds here on the Saranac riverbank, nary a robin has landed on our lawn. I'll be thrilled when the first great blue heron flies low, up the Saranac past our house.
CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE
I pulled into the Crete Center on Lake Champlain on March 15 and heard the honking of geese overhead. To look up and see that huge "V" heading north was a real thrill.
It started before that with the new-this-year "spring ahead" change of the clocks to Daylight Saving (not "savings") Time on March 9 rather than in April. The index finger of my favored left hand got lots of exercise moving the hands of my many clocks.
Some St. Patrick's Day celebrations took place on Saturday, March 15, rather than on this past Monday. There were those who felt as though they shouldn't carouse during Holy Week. Our traditional and delicious Irish dinner of corned beef and cabbage took place Saturday with friends at Diane and Kenny Leavine's home in Plattsburgh.
Suddenly, it seemed, Palm Sunday was here, and we left St. Alexander's Church with our frond early on the morning of the 16th.
Just one day later, I donned my green tie and jacket and attended the annual St. Patrick's Day breakfast on the Plattsburgh State campus. I was thrilled when Gordon Hazel was named Irishman of the Year. There is no one more deserving.
Then came the calendar arrival of spring March 20 and Easter Sunday today. Whew. Technically, spring arrived on March 19 for folks in the western United States due to the vernal equinox at 10:49 p.m. Pacific Time (5:48 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time) on that date. Can you believe our friends in Southern California beat us this year?
EARLY EASTER
When I say all of this is unique, I know whereof I speak. Easter won't fall on March 23 again until all of us have long since turned to dust in 2285. The last time it came on this date, in 1913, my mother was 12. And the last time it fell on the earliest date of March 22 was 1818.
It has to occur on a Sunday right after the first full moon that follows the vernal equinox, which signifies spring when the hours of darkness and daylight are equal and the sun passes over the equator. Easter can vary between March 22 and April 25. So this is about as early as it gets. As a matter of fact, it's two weeks earlier than last year. Someone asked me where the word "Easter" came from. Research points to an ancient goddess of spring named "Eastre," who represented fertility. Makes sense.
Today, Christians remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Unlike Christmas, though, Easter does a lot of moving around the calendar.
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS
Here in our beloved Clinton County, we have to rely on signs of spring that don't depend on green grass and crocuses.
The start of pre-season baseball is a factor for me. The arrival of the red-winged blackbirds helps.
Days will soon come that are warm enough for us to sit out on our enclosed deck that we refer to as our "back porch." I must get busy cleaning up the winter clutter.
There aren't nearly enough rocking chairs on porches these days. Spring used to be the start of "porch season," and even though Kaye's father, the late Alfred Vaughan, has been deceased for years, I still wave at him as I drive by and imagine he and Leona sitting on their front porch in Morrisonville.
The opening of the local michigan and ice-cream stands is a good harbinger of spring.
The first warm spring days used to herald "marble season," but, sadly, children today have no clue what that means.
The delivery of Girl Scout cookies is another delightful sign of spring. I have consumed more than my share.
Collecting maple sap and boiling it down into golden syrup is another harbinger in our region. I can't imagine how much it costs in fuel oil to make a gallon this year.
The dripping downspouts and our leaking River Room mean spring is here.
March Madness is also a reliable spring tip-off.
After a North Country winter that seemed to drag on for years, we deserve spring. BRING IT ON!!
Have a wonderful Easter and please, drive carefully.
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