Springtime Tallahassee

Amidst our hurriedness in life, Earth is infinitely patient and the cycling seasons follow their appointed rounds with measured regularity. This week we celebrate the turning of winter to spring in the vernal or Spring equinox and, as Spring has come to Tallahassee, so has the incredible beauty of our city been a boon to our spirits. I have my favorites, dogwoods, spirea, wisteria, redbuds, and granddaddy greybeards. I imagine you have your favorites as well, but the splendor of all of it coming into fullness together is what makes it so incredible.

This year, I feel particularly aware of the remarkable transformation of trees that are barren or sporting only lifeless leaves, seemingly clothed overnight in spring green as they exit dormancy.  Leaf production is a process that begins in late summer or early fall when leaf and flower buds form, and it is regulated by three factors that work together in varying patterns depending on the species of the tree.

Three factors in leaf production:

1. A chilling requirement, or minimum temperature that must be experienced by the tree

2. Growing degree days, or days above a certain minimum temperature;

3. And photoperiod, or day length.

   
   

“Native to place trees” have a more rigid standard of these three factors that give invasive plants an advantage over them. But native trees show the patience of the Earth, and they are worth the patience that we display when we wait on their leafy show in eager anticipation.

The flower or leaf bud itself is a remarkable creation with its complex design to protect the flower or leaf.  The flower bud is the more plump bud on the tip of the branch, and the leaf bud is thinner and closer to the branch. Hormones within the tree that play a role in deciduous trees dropping their leaves in the fall also help with the breaking of the buds in the spring.  They rehydrate the tree, causing in part the breaking of the buds and the unfurling of the flower or leaf within it.

I have learned that mature deciduous trees, depending on their species, unfurl their leaves each spring in massive quantities, from between 100,000 to several million per tree. I think of the amazing ways that nature encourages us to see the big picture as we contemplate the number of grains of sand at the beach or stars in the night sky, or the new leaves emerging in spring. And except for the ways in which we interfere negatively with the systems of nature by our harmful behaviors, we humans do not orchestrate these well-oiled, patient and dependable systems of nature that we observe with awe. We simply are benefactors of them.

I think of the amazing ways that nature encourages us to see the big picture as we contemplate the number of grains of sand at the beach or stars in the night sky, or the new leaves emerging in spring.

Spring, marked by the sun crossing the celestial equator creating almost equal amounts of day and night across the planet Earth, happens at a specific time and on a specific day between March 19-21, depending on the year.  This year the spring (vernal) equinox falls on March 20 at 10:47 AM. This seems to have spiritual significance to me in these days of mounting war, tension, division and despair. It is hopeful to remember that spring begins with equal day and night, light and darkness. A balance that is instructive for our lives, when it seems that so much is going wrong and creating harm. Mr. Rogers told the children on his famed television show, “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood,” to look for the helpers when things are difficult. Perhaps we might follow his lead to look for the helpers and other signs of light and hope to balance our lives.

It is also hopeful that new life abounds all around us in the coming of spring as it does so beautifully in the Tallahassee area. Warmth, beauty, fragrance, birdsong, and the taste of fresh strawberries and pineapples are springtime favorites in our region.

Which is why in 1967, when talk of moving the capital of Florida to Orlando was circulating among the legislators, a group of local loyalists determined to begin an annual festival in the Spring when Tallahassee is at its finest, to keep the state capital local. Springtime Tallahassee, Inc., has worked hard since the initial Annual Spring Festival in 1968 to improve the celebration each year.

In addition to more than a hundred vendors and performances on stages across the downtown chain of parks on March 28, beginning at 9 AM at the award-winning “Grand Jubilee,” this year’s festival will also feature a free “Music Festival” on March 27 beginning at 5:30 PM at Kleman Plaza, with an opening act by up-and-coming star, Madden Metcalf, followed by a supporting act at 6:30 with Tobacco Rd Band, and the headliner, award-winning country cusic singer and songwriter, Dylan Scott, at 9:00 to 10:30. The 58^th annual Springtime Tallahassee Grand Parade happens on March 28 at 10:30 a.m., beginning on Monroe Street just south of Brevard Street, traveling south through downtown, ending at Madison Street.

As we welcome spring and celebrate its coming with Springtime Tallahassee, I am reflecting on the patience of the Earth and the predictability of the seasons and the sense of grounded-ness that I feel in remembering these hallmarks of spring. It urges me to practice patience in my own busy life and to find a way to rely on the patterns of predictability that I have developed in my life to keep me steady – to walk regularly, to pray often, to help others when I can, and to practice joy.

And for me at least, it is hard not to feel joyful when I see the pansies on the back deck that had thought summer, not spring, had arrived until the last few days of cooler weather appeared. While I understand that they will not likely last much longer, they have been a delight. And certainly the joy of nature’s springtime extravaganza that seems to be as the “Springtime Tallahassee” committee said in 1967, “when Tallahassee is at her finest.”

It is my prayer that we all will find ways to ground our spirits in that which is balanced like the equinox and beautiful like the remarkable springtime we are experiencing all around us.