Because of the unusually cold North Georgia winter, our springtime is shaping up to be one of the most beautiful in years. Jonquils (okay, daisies anywhere outside the state), which during warm winters bloom in mid-February, have been delayed until mid-March. Forsythia, which recently have been blooming in the third or fourth week of February started to bloom during the ides of March (ides is the 15th day of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th day of other months).
Delayed only a couple of days, the Bradford pears are already covered in white and the ornamental cherries that are so popular in Macon and Conyers have those distinctive pink flowers. Now on the first day of spring Pam and I are anxiously awaiting the azaleas of many colors, white and pink dogwood, and the yellow pine pollen that endears itself to no one.
Spring is a time of renewal. Pam and I renew our love of the north Georgia mountains which we don't get to visit as much as we like during the winter. We renew our love of hiking, not only in the mountains, but on distant battlefields like Chickamauga or closer ones like Allatoona Pass. We check on new exhibits at attractions like the Georgia Aquarium and Rome Area History Museum. We also reach out to old friends simply to say "How ya doing."
