Spring Happens Here

(Dear Readers, 

This is a reprint from a year ago. I hope you don't mind. )

By G. E. Shuman

            Spring has finally sprung here in the Green Mountain state. For many of you living in a milder climate, that occurrence took place a month or more ago. In Central Vermont, it took place just weeks ago, after what we hope was the last gasp of winter. At our house, it snowed enough to cover the ground on the 12^th of May.

            Here the change to spring is immediate and not violent, (but almost,) as grass, leaves, and tree buds burst forth in a matter of a dozen days or less when the season finally arrives. Within a few more days every lawn has someone with a rake and mower, finally getting rid of twigs and leaves and ‘stuff’ in general, left in the wake of winter. On our lawn that someone is me. This year I have also employed my three-year-old granddaughter Nahla, in the job of raking. She, with her small rake and pink work gloves, helps ‘disperse’ the piles of leaves Papa has just made. (It’s good to have help.)

            Ours is a big country. To me, the saying of ‘It’s a small world’ has less meaning than to some. I’ve seen a lot of it. (Not to stray too far from the subject of spring, but my wife and I have now retired and plan to see much more of it very soon.) Anyone who has driven to Orlando from here knows that it would be a very long walk, no matter what the season. In fact, from my house to downtown Barre seems like a long walk, and I can see downtown from here.

            Yes, our country is big, and our world is immense. It’s no wonder the weather and temperature vary to such a ‘degree’. (See what I did there?)  We had a friend, years ago, who had lived her entire life in Florida. She once wondered aloud to me on the phone what it must be like to see snow “just falling out of the sky.” For someone from Vermont, (me,) it was strange that she thought that would be so amazing. Another person I once met in Florida, and who had spent his life there, had a serious answer that also amazed me, when I asked him if he and his wife had ever been north. He replied: “Yes, we have. We’ve been to North Carolina.” That made me feel like bringing the suntan lotion the next time I go to South Barre.

            I do love the season of spring in my little corner of this great big world. It is good to spring clean the inside of your home. To me, it is even better to get the outside spruced up. I feel happy when I get the trash from winter and the gas grill cover removed for the summer. I also love the smell of freshly mown grass. For you, these things might not be a big deal. For me, they are like seeing snow falling out of the sky if you’ve always lived in Florida.

            Just yesterday I read a bumper sticker on a car that was momentarily in front of me at an intersection. (Isn’t that where everyone reads bumper stickers?) This sticker said: “What happens in Vermont stays in Vermont. But not much ever happens.”  That saying may hold some truth, but some things do happen here. Spring happens here, right after the last snowfall of May.