When I stop and think I have to envy myself the
lifestyle I lead lately. It is now spring in full swing in Sydney and I still vividly remember
spring in Poland which finished for me only three months ago. Maybe I do not envy as
it is about myself I am thinking about but I should and I do feel grateful that I am able to live two springs a year.
I am not a skier, hence I do not miss the cold weather, red nose, frozen
hands and feet or snow in its slosh consistency. I can live very happily without
it. Sure, there are some beautiful winter landscapes, there are times when snow is
fresh and white making the world so quiet that you feel like wrapped up in cotton
wool. Only if you think that in Poland
winter lasts five to seven months and the beautiful white snow lasts maybe one
or two days during the whole period you get less enthusiastic about living
through the full four seasons.
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| This is a good version of Polish winter, but, boy, it was cold! |
At the end of April the Northern Europe wakes
up with colours and smells of spring. First come pussy willows as the symbol of
future change in weather. You can get them in flower shops and they are also sold
in streets by small entrepreneurs running their not fully legal small
businesses at street corners.
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| My Polish favourite spring flower - lilac |
Reminiscing I recall the time when walking though
still a snowy park in Warsaw I was stopped by a reporter needing a spring picture
for a newspaper. It was March, rather cold and I was wrapped up in a sheep
coat. I was handed in a bunch of pussy
willow branches, asked to smile,somebody took a picture of me, I got a nice thank you and the next day the 22nd or 23rd
of March, the first day of spring I saw my
picture on the first page of an equivalent to Sydney Morning Herald with the
caption “Warsaw spring, still in a heavy coat but already with bunch of pussy
willow branches”. What glory days they
were... I wish I kept the newspaper cutting.
Coming back to reality and 2014 in Australia, I returned from Poland at the end of August and was able to welcome Australian spring on the 1st of September. I like the simplified way of starting seasons here. One does not have to remember if it should be 20ies, 21st, 22nd or 23rd of March. Astronomy does not practice simple solutions. This year 2014 Northern spring equinox was on March 20, but I had to check it to make such a statement.
Travelling through Australia this year I saw spring at its best, the Southern Hemisphere style. Wattles, in my mind, are an Aussie symbol of spring and I saw many of them this year. The suburban streets of Sydney are lined with azaleas and my favourite wisterias. Different flowers, different smells, different beauty. I am so lucky I can observe and enjoy both of the spring editions.
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| My Australian favourite spring flower - wattle |
