Most of my friends in the Mid-Atlantic just dodged a snowstorm. That got me to thinking about spring and how gorgeous late April/early May can be in Virginia, Maryland and southern Pennsylvania. The trees burst into bloom, wisteria perfumes the air, flowers pop out everywhere and the grass turns a rich green not seen any other time of the year.
In Texas, things are a little different. Okay, a lot different. Here are thirteen signs of spring in the former Republic of Texas.
1. It’s warm. Of course, it’s been warm since September. Before that, it was hot.
2. The wind blows out of the south. It does that pretty much all year, except when a polar cold front blasts in from, well, the north pole. There’s nothing between Canada and Texas but a couple of barbed wire fences, so the wind doesn’t lose any momentum on the way.
3. Bluebonnets! And lots of other wildflowers that explode into a riot of color with the first good rain.
4. The mountain laurels bloom and everything downwind smells like bubblegum.
5. Mountain cedar stops sending out pollen – much to allergy sufferers’ relief.
6. Hackberries bloom and make up for the lack of mountain cedar pollen.
7. Roadrunners come back from where ever they hid out during the one really cold day we had all “winter.” There were two roadrunners out front today. They’re smaller than you think. Oh, and yes, we have coyotes, too. I haven’t seen any mysterious boxes marked “Acme” anywhere, though.
8. Hummingbird migration! They’re headed north, and there’s a different species at the feeder nearly every day. We don’t just get ruby throats. We have black chins all year long (so I buy a lot of sugar), but the really tough little guys are the rufous. Figures a bird named for red would be feisty, right? You easterners think ruby throats fight around the feeders? They run and hide when rufous comes to town.
9. Rain! Late spring is supposed to be rainy here. You couldn’t prove it by me, but I’ve only seen one spring here so far. We’re in a drought, under water restrictions, and don’t expect that to end any time soon.
10. Bird migration! We’re overrun with sparrows and other small feathered critters at the moment, but I saw a cardinal yesterday. Before long, there will be western bluejays, painted buntings, goldfinches and many others. I’ve even seen a bald eagle flying over our canyon.
11. Spiders and snakes and scorpions, oh my! Yeah, those are not so much fun. You know how they say everything is bigger in TX? Take a look at our giant-sized walking sticks. And we have these huge millipede things that don’t bear description. And tree scorpions. Not poisonous, but they sting and they’re sneaky little bas…uhm, well, they’re not welcome in the house or on the patio. Quarterly pest service takes care of their nasty little behinds.
12. Longer days! I’m NOT a morning person, so I don’t like short days. But daylight savings time starts this weekend – another hour of daylight in my favor!
13. Sandals. My feet don’t see shoes until at least November, maybe January.
So, what are your favorite signs of spring?
And now for a bit of shameless self-promotion:
Highland Healer is now available in both print and ebook formats from Amazon, The Wild Rose Press, Barnes and Noble and other retailers.
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