Spring brings beauty, chores and a little terror
March 2026
by Margo Oxendine, Contributing Columnist
Well, it’s almost here! Yes, spring is just around the corner, and boy, do we ever deserve a big, sunshine-filled, flower-strewn hit of spring.
Soon, the cheerful yellow daffodils will be peeking their happy heads out of the ground, right next to the crocuses. It won’t be too long before we can stop paying the plowboy and pay the lawn guy instead. Back when I was working regularly as a reporter, I took a photo every year of daffodils in the snow. It was my signature, if you will.
When we decide to stroll into our local home improvement store — or even into our neighborhood flower shop — we will be pleasantly assaulted by lots and lots of flowers. They come in little pots of soil (don’t call it dirt!), and we just take them home and plant them wherever we can. I used to do this — but these days, I am getting too creaky for all that bending and stooping. Not to mention, I have always hated getting dirty.
Then there’s the watering. It’s a chore that absolutely must be done. That would mean buying a long hose or two and figuring out how to attach it to the one spigot outside on the wall. I’d also need a hose reel. Hoses are, for me anyway, a recalcitrant thing. They just never cooperate.
The arrival of spring means we can put the heavy, fleecy jackets back in the coat closet and replace them with nothing but T-shirts. The day that we can stop wearing socks might be close at hand, too.
Of course, spring also means that the pesky gnats, hornets and dreaded ticks will wake up and head straight for us as we walk by. Did you know some hornets make their sneaky nests underground? I didn’t either, until I mistakenly trod upon one. Out they came, like a squadron of military jets. Ironically, those jets are aptly named Hornets.
I keep my eyes peeled for hornet nests in the roofs, ceilings and eaves. That requires a very scary operation: Get hornet spray. Wait until dark, when they’ve all crawled back inside, then step into their realm and spray the devil out of those nests. I like to soak them until they collapse, then scurry back inside. On those nights, I can be found outside in my nightgown, armed with a can of hornet spray in one hand and my phone in the other, just in case I need to call 911.
A friend who felt sorry for the state of my yard came by one day and, almost before he began mowing, was stung by a nest of hornets. I felt terrible. He did something I could never imagine doing: He got a can of gas out of his truck, poured it down the hornet hole and lit it on fire. What a frightful spectacle — but it worked! (By the way, that friend hasn’t stopped by since!)
Spring also brings the necessity of changing out the closets. Although I live alone, I have four fully packed ones. Switching out seasonal clothes can take the whole day.
My very favorite thing about spring is this: I can open the screened porch, which serves as my study, dining room and reading area. It becomes a whole new room to the house for six or seven months.
I hope you have a favorite thing about the coming season. It’s not too far off. But I bet we’ll have another bout of snow before March 21 gets here. Then we’ll get to see that wonderful sight: bright yellow daffodils peeking through sparkling white snow.
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