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Show To Everything - There is a Season Last week. Dad called to say his garden looked so orderly and peaceful, all covered with snow, he almost regretted the thought of summer. We could see h is point. Beginning in early spring Dad looks out across the yard and starts making lists. The lists grow during the summer weeks turn the flower beds, trim the rose bushes, mow the lawn, thin the carrots, sweep the patio, reorganize the shed, etc. Saturday mornings, he can 't wait to get to it, waking family members early and handing out assignments to all available hands. Looking out across our own sleeping plot, we heaved a sigh of relief. This week, however. Dad said he has "begun to feel the stirrings of the first crocuses. " That meant, we figured, he had his notepad in hand and was starting the first list of the season. To be honest, we 've felt a few of those stirrings too, and like a bear coming out of hibernation, hiber-nation, we are once again looking forward to grubbing around in the garden. : The State Parks, however, are going to sleep in awhile longer. Both Deer Creek and Rockport are iced over and the beaches are covered with slabs of snow. The campgrounds camp-grounds are muddy and quiet. Deer and rabbit tracks are the only signs of winter traffic and the boat bouys are firmly imbedded in the ice. On the beaches, there are signs of last year's busy summer. Snarls of fishing line entwine well-placed stumps revealed now that the reservoirs are at their lowest ebb. There are beer cans and stray sandals, a few tattered frisbees and other bits of bleached litter. In the silence, it is hard to imagine the minicities of Winneba-gos, Winneba-gos, the fleets of Hobie Cats, the banks of fishermen and lines at the hog dog stand, which will flood the park soon enough. In the meantime, mean-time, it is nice to wander along the shore listening to the ice crack. It is surely getting closer to summer. The eagles have been moving north, the runoff is beginning and we are listening for the first calls of the sandhill cranes. NC |