Spring, Day 1

To the editor:
    The first weekend of spring is here. Thanks to the warm Atlantic climate, the green sprouts are up and the trees are beginning to bud out. Even the dreaded dandelions are blooming! Their yellow pennants are in full glory along the sidewalks and roadways of the region.     Winter has been banished by common agreement. It is Mother’s Day weekend here in Britain. There are the usual dinners, flowers, and cards for sale. The gardeners are out in their attempts to battle the ferocious weeds and last of the early frosts. But it is the birds who hold forth with their opinions on the coming of spring.
    I do not know what it is about a window that attracts the creatures. But in the wee early hours of the morning it seems that the residents of the avian persuasion must engage in activity that would cause sensible people to blanch. They sing. Not only do they sing in a variety of caws, chirps, and squawks, but they do so at the top of their voices. Even the appearance of the neighborhood cat does little to discourage their debate. usually it does nothing but cause them to try even harder to out do each other with the volume of their warbles.
    One notable difference that you discover moving around the world is that the weather forecast is a bizarre conglomeration of interesting facts. In the U.S., we have perfected the art of weather-casting to the point that it gets its own channel on cable. While living in China it was always amusing to see the weather forecast presented. There would be a cursory overview of the highlights of the day and some general information about the following day. Then we would be given the international forecasts. Information about the local forecast was very limited. You were better off looking out the window and deciding whether to take your umbrella or not.
    Here in England, at the end of the news and sports is the weather forecast. Even when you might expect a little more time such as during a snowstorm, the weather forecast is always at the end of the hour. There are far fewer fancy colored maps showing the town by town predictions. Typically the Metropolitan Forecast Office generates the forecast that is sent out to all stations. The presenter stands in front of the chroma wall and they move from north to south and east to west over the British Isles. This is a timed event.
    Weather always gets the same amount of time. So the forecast is breathtakingly delivered. Lots of flailing about with arms and wires, flashing slides of features and lists of temperatures. Exciting. The real fun comes when the clock is running out and the talent has to get off the air.
    Since the presentation is pre-timed, the talent must get out before the commercial. It is amazing how fast they can tell you that it will be a delightful spring day! But if they stopped they might see the dandelions and hear the birds telling the same thing. It’s a good day for a stretch.