The Blue Whale and Other Travel Tales: SPRING IS IN THE AIR

SPRING!!!

Spring is my favorite time of the year. All the way from Northern Florida to New England. South Florida, of course, barely has a noticeable change to spring. Spring in northern Florida starts about mid-February with the beginnings of sprouting of new life through leave buds on the trees. It gives a plethora of shades of green. Next come the azaleas…white, salmon, pink, reds, magentas. This year was a bit of a disappointment, however, as some sort of bug got to most of the plants in the area, chewing up the budding flowers. Then, there are the white wild flowering dogwood hither, thither and yon in various woods and forests.

Garden and plant shows start popping up bringing all kinds of native plants and flowers. Time to buy neat stuff for one’s own yard. The geraniums which sat for a large part of the winter in my dining room could now be moved out to the back porch. Although late February still brings potential killing frost, the flowers can spend more time out of doors.

The stag horn ferns which have been housed in the work shop can now be brought out to hang gracefully in the yard. We have three…two of them are more than thirty years old. They are really big and very heavy. It takes two of us and a wheelbarrow to move them from their winter quarters to their summer trees. Since the leaves are usually just budding on the live oaks that form their shaded umbrella, they sometimes get a bit sunburned. But within a week or two, they are growing once again.

Now, the beginning of May, the amaryllis has had one flower with four blossoms, the first in four years. And our Easter lilies, although slightly confused and late are now giving us many the bloom. We planted two last year. They multiply greatly. This year there are about a dozen plants, each with several buds and several of them with blooms.

The vegetables are heading toward hitting full stride. Cukes and summer squash have already been enjoyed. The tomatoes will start in a week or two. However, we have hit the road and will miss the first few.

This year we are having an added bonus; we are going north and will enjoy seeing the natural progression of the beauty of the early return to life.

Heading north, we left while it was still dark. I slept most of the way out of Florida, through most of Georgia and well into South Carolina. I did not start paying attention to the progression of spring as we danced our quick step via North I-95 until well into North Carolina. Traveling at the speed limit of 70, it is difficult to identify the varieties of beautiful wild flowers. There were lots of reds and pinks with a smithering of white. Purple. Various shades of blue. There were places that reminded me of a giant gorgeous quilt with reds/pinks in the middle surrounded by blue. Thank you Lady Bird and all who followed for your foresight in America’s beautification.

While we were on I-95, there was not much exciting to see as we moved into Virginia. At Fredericksburg, we veered to US 17, eventually to I-66 and finally to I-81. The floral landscape changed to clumps of daisies. Most were small clumps, but beautiful nonetheless. In the northern part of Virginia, we started seeing bright yellow flowers—sometimes the grouping were the size of nosegays; sometimes covering the entire side of a hill. Again, without the ability to stop, I could not identify them. But a hillside painted completely in yellow with the green accents of the leaves was indeed a sight to behold. God’s artistry is beyond any words I can put down. Flowery trees began to appear here and there, eventually more here than there. Most of the flowers were white, reminding me of the snow covering they may have seen earlier in the year. We don’t see much snow in Florida (did have it a couple of mornings this year, however.)

We spent the night in Winchester, Virginia. Leaving before the sun came up, I was able to photograph portions of the sun rise, before it became completely engulfed in cloud cover.

I started noticing spring life once again passing into southern Pennsylvania where the tidy farms of the Pennsylvania Dutch. New life here came in the form young animals. Calves mostly.

The unidentified yellow flowers reappeared, first in very tiny groups, then larger sets, but not in the abundance previously seen in Virginia. As we progressed north into the mountains, the spring budding of the trees was most noticeably abundant. They were in the early throes of their new spring wardrobe. I had not realized before the colors available in these early budding season. As we went by the towns of Frackville, Hazelton, and Wilkes Barre, I noticed that buds as well as later fall foliage come in many colors…dots of orange, splashes of red, a blush of coral, lymon green (a pale yellowish green—kind the color of Mountain Dew), and a large sprinkling of russet. There were few conifers which would have produced a much more varied shade of green. The russet buds were so dominant, that the far off hills and valleys had a tannish-beige look rather than green. White flowering trees popped into place from time to time.

We stopped for breakfast in the town of Frackville, a small old mining town. The parking lot had two pink cherry trees in full bloom. Great spotches of color.

On the west side of the interstate was a good sized tree farm near Hazelton. Most of the trees were in the early stages of budding. Their flowering trees, however, presented a rainbow of shades from white to various pinks--pale pink to hot pink and magenta—and reds. God is such a wonderful artist. It was awesome!

In Scranton, we made a sharp turn east. Soon we entered New York State. Here there were many more evergreens. The trees were post-budding, but had not yet reached the full maturity of their early foliage growth. Several varieties of pines. Cedar. Fir. The evergreens were taller than most of the hardwoods, with their heads rising above their neighboring siblings, providing various shades of green—lime to dark forest.

Although not as prolific as they were in Virginia, the unknown yellow flowers popped up here and there. They are beautiful, nonetheless.

We starting see dandelions with their yellow smiling faces. I am probably one of very few people who think they are a great sign of spring and very pretty. I really like to look at a field filled with these blossoming yellow “weeds.” We saw several yellow fields with a variety of both of these flowers with their green leaves framing their faces. In Florida, there is a variety of dandelions, but they are flatter and not quite so pretty. As we continued on our way, we began to see some that had already turned to their fluffy down that would soon carry the seeds for another year.

We passed several wetland areas and found that the bull rushes and cattails still carried their winter tans and browns. Yet, we could see new green growth shooting up among the old. Green goes so well with brown. It reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream

Once we crossed the Connecticut line, zillions of flowering bushes and trees presented themselves…cherry blossoms, apple blossoms, forsythia, azaleas, and so many more. The Japanese maples wore their burgundy coats with grace and beauty.

I thought that we apparently had missed most of the daffodils and tulips, but I did find a few here and there. Generally speaking, however, they were past peak.

When we first arrived, the lilacs were beginning to show their buds..several shades of lilac and lavender, and of course, white. By the time we left, the lilacs were almost gone, but the lillies-of-the -valley were beginning to show their heads. And, the bridle wreath was budding. Memorial Day is the usual standard for that bush to be at its peak. That would have been just about right given the time frame.

Heading back to Florida—in just the wee short period of time since we left—the landscape had changed from the buds of new life to almost a full maturity of the leaves on the trees. We stopped at the West Virginia welcome center to find the bearded iris in full bloom...yellow, blues, white.

Landing back in our yard, we discovered the crepe myrtles were in bud. We have several in our yard—mostly white with one lone hot pink bush. Two of the white bushes were given to us serveral years ago. This is the first year we have had any flowers on them. This was due to the diligence of Steve’s fertilizing and watering. The crepe myrtle bushes downtown, however, were in full swing with their various shades of pinks, lavenders and reds.

I may have to add lyrics to “These Are a Few of My Favorite Things” from time to time. Today, in addition to all the flora already mentioned, I would have to include fluffy pure bright white clouds floating in a sea of azure in the sky they call home.