When I sprang my clocks forward at bedtime last night, I knew we were entering my favorite time of year. When it gets dark so early, I go into hibernation on some level. I wasn't disappointed today to awake to a pristine 14th of March, the kind of day Southern California is famous for. I worked a few hours in my garden as I did yesterday as well. My way of getting grounded is to dig in the ground.
I went to Osh Hardware and got several six paks of bedding plants and began the restoration of the garden. It will be some weeks before spring actually arrives, but the cut-back hydrangeas are coming back to life and the star jasmine plants have oodles of new growth.
At 4:45 p.m. I took Mollie down to the Esplanade for a long walk and several families were flying kites. Lots of people were biking, running, walking, and even swimming. They must have been rejuvenated by the change in time, too.
I Googled for a poem about daylight savings time and up came this one by Phyllis McGinley. It's not April this year that the clock sprung forward, but it is glorious March 14.
Daylight Savings Time
by Phyllis McGinley
In Spring when maple buds are red,
We turn the Clock an hour ahead;
Which means, each April that arrives,
We lose an hour
Out of our lives.
Who cares? When Autumn birds in flocks
Fly southward, back we turn the Clocks,
And so regain a lovely thing--
That missing hour
We lost last Spring.
My antibiotics are kicking in and I hope they stay kicked. I didn't run out of steam in the afternoon. I even watched 60 Minutes tonight and put up my art table. The Mac newsletter has gone to the printer, and I'm going to do a little blogwalking.
As Mollie and I walked today, I took several photos and felt fully alive and incredibly grateful to be who I am and where I am. I never tire of this shot of the Redondo Beach Pier from the Esplanade.
