It's been a weird, wintry winter. I'm ready for Spring. I have already announced to several of my friends that Spring is here. Of course that was partly wishful thinking. But now the calendar is saying that Spring is here, and I can almost hear a chorus of rejoicing arising.
It really has been a weird winter. As sometimes happens, much of the worse wintry weather went to south Arkansas and the Arkansas River Valley, and we often had it lighter while it was more intense farther south. Didn't you feel for the northeast this year? Boston had record snowfalls this year, snow on snow on snow, and no place to put it all! Our November was cold, with a modicum of snow. December was pretty much snowless, but cloudy, dreary and warm. In January, the sun came out, and the temperatures turned really cold! How's that for weird? Then in February, in came the snows, strong, long-lasting snows like the northern states have, with sleet and freezing rain, and melting and refreezing. The schools missed so many days that the happy kids were getting bored from being out of school with nothing to do. Then, in March, the snow went away, the piles of snow on the parking lots melted, our frozen soils turned to putty, and the pastures and barn lots turned to slushy puddin'. Then came the rains, and now the lawns are all squishy.
I think Spring is here. The robins are skittering about the lawns all over town. I think the worms have come out to sun themselves, and the robins heard about it and called together their spring convention in Pea Ridge. I'm sure the birds are pleased with our local dining-out attractions. The wild onions are coming out in the lawn, the dandelions are flowering, and the little purple weed flowers are blooming. Isn't it a pity that the weeds green up first? The Bermuda grass is still lying there brown and drab and lifeless, while the weedy stuff turns green and lush. Actually I like it that the lawn turns green, even if it is not with the finer lawn grasses, and I hate to get rid of the weeds too early.
We had one day this week when the temperature got up to 72 degrees. I'm pretty sure Spring is here! Of course the next day the high was 40 degrees, and the temperatures are see-sawing day by day.
The Easter flowers are blooming. It is definitely Springtime! Have you noticed June Easley's hill as you come up from Little Sugar Creek south of Pea Ridge? It is a great grand entrance to town, and a definite sign of Spring. Of course it is a good idea to make the bend and establish your lane before you look off to the right and take in the beautiful hillside. Keep watching the lawns as you drive along South Curtis Avenue. The Easter flowers are blooming along there. Our own flowers are a little late. I don't know why. But at the Lynn Street entrance to our Windmill Subdivision off Carr Street there is a rich row of color. And, don't forget to take a look at Effie's flowers on the north Brush Creek Hill!
Springtime is a great time to think about new beginnings. For people who grew up on the farm, springtime is an every year opportunity to try again with gardens and crops and flowers. There used to be a saying along the lines of "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again!" If you try, and try again, you have a real chance of succeeding. If you don't try, failing is guaranteed! Farming and gardening are all about trying, and trying again, and again.
Today, the cattle on our pastures were not very excited about their grain feeding. I think that new green clover out in the pastures is like a fresh dessert to them. The bull in the pastures at my brother Ben's farm came over to the fence when I walked up today. I think he wanted to tell me that this was his pasture and his herd, and that I should not go upsetting things; but he was also telling me how great it is that spring is here! We found him to be a very curious bull. While we worked with the tractor and posthole auger, he wanted to help by rubbing his head against everything. We had to tell him that although we are sure he is a very fine and wise bull, his help in our job is not helping. He finally consented to stand over there and watch, even though we were on his turf and he thought he needed to look into the things going on on his turf. After all, it's Spring, and there's business to attend to!
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Editor's note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is an award-winning columnist, a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.
Editorial on 03/25/2015