Daffodils and Crocuses

Originally published in The Laconia Daily Sun ›

Last week, with spring clearly in the air, I bought two large bunches of daffodils and several branches with buds ready to bloom.  It took a day for the daffodils to open and they filled every room in the house with color.  The buds on the branches were much slower to bloom and the brown branches were transformed when they did appear.

The days are longer, the deep chill has gone from the air and in New York the daffodils and crocuses are out in Central Park.   In the planters that surround the trees along the sidewalk gardeners have been busy planting pansies and other hardy plants that will last through the fickle spring weather before being replaced during the summer months.

Which makes me think about baseball.  The season has begun, even though it isn’t particularly warm in the stadiums.  While looking at the baseball schedules and thinking about purchasing tickets for a Yankee and Red Sox game I learned that this year the two rivals, probably the most heated in professional sports, will play in June at London Stadium in the United Kingdom.  How exciting.

London Stadium was built in 2012 as an Olympic Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

and is home to several soccer teams, including West Ham United in the Premier League, as well as serving as a venue for global entertainers and concerts through the summer.  The London Stadium has also hosted the Rugby World Cup.

Having worked in London over many years I tried to imagine what it would be like experiencing an event that is so clearly American. Yes, the Brits love their beer, so that wouldn’t change.  Fish and chips, meat pies, will probably replace chicken wings and hot dogs.

Of course, what is baseball without Cracker Jacks – and there is nothing more American than Cracker Jacks.

Cracker Jacks has a long history with baseball and on June 16, 1993, when the salty peanut mixture turned 100 years-old, a celebration was held at Wrigley Field in Chicago in a game between the Cubs and the Florida marlins.  The New York Yankees learned their lesson in 2004 they replaced Cracker Jacks with something called “Crunch ‘n Munch” at Yankee Stadium.

A public cry ensued and soon Cracker Jacks were back.  I’m certain the two American teams will bring along  Cracker Jacks when they travel to London.

When we were young, spring also meant getting out our glass marbles and playing

in the mud and snow.   Playing marbles, rolling small colorful balls into a hole would engage us for hours. The idea was to win marbles and add to your collection. Like so many other things marbles have disappeared.  Now, I expect, only played on digital devices.

What a difference a few hours can make.  When I hop on the bus for New Hampshire this weekend, I know I will find snow, lots of snow when I arrive.  However, spring will still be in the air and it will only take a few weeks of warmer weather for the snow to disappear.  Daffodils and crocuses are hardy creatures and sometimes they just defy the snow, anxious to be the first ones to announce that spring has arrived.