The Plaza Awakens - Is it Spring Yet?

In March, Mother Nature behaves like teenagers on school mornings. You yell upstairs and politely ask them to get up. After a five-minute delay, you repeat your request, this time with more urgency underlining your voice. Muffled groans do trickle out from the bedroom, but that’s it. This time, after only two minutes, summoning your Moses-parting-the-Red-Sea- voice, you command your child to get up and get down stairs. A growly OK is replied and soon the teen is before you.

In March, we are teased with the coming of Spring, only to see our hopes  smothered by a late season snow storm or drowned in a bitterly cold rain. Buoyed by a recent sampling of bright sunny days and jacket wearing temperatures, Cutest, the dog and I took to the streets of the Plaza.

Yes, the Plaza has had its starts and stops over the recent years, but not unlike spring, we feel it is ready to bloom. Twenty somethings were the sidewalk’s majority, not surprising as college basketball tournaments are about to get underway downtown and it was not quite noon.

Only a few fountains were sputtering alive. A handful of restaurants rolled out their sidewalk tables and chairs. Dogs on leash followed their masters in to Three Dog Bakery in hopes of snagging a treat. Next to the curb sat an eyelashed adorned Mini Cooper, splattered with daisy stickers, a rolling breath of fresh air.

But the real thing, flowering bushes and trees, were scarce. In fact, we discovered only one brave flower, quivering in the breeze, poking its colorful petals above the mulch.

Later, Cutest, dog and I retreated to our home just as clouds descended from the north accompanied by a blustery wind. Peering out our windows, we know spring is just a couple of days from officially arriving, it’s just that Mother Nature is not quite ready to go on with the show.