Saturday, February 28, 2009

Dreaming of spring....

Yesterday morning, I happily walked out of my house wearing a fleecy sweatshirt instead of my winter coat. February is almost over, it was sunny and about 40 degrees, and I felt optimistic for spring. However, this being Michigan... a few short hours later my mood changed when the gray skies returned along with snow flurries.

Fortunately, even with Mother Nature is not cooperating, there are still some signs of spring in the air. Twisters Ice Cream shop opened earlier this month -- this has become a sign of spring that many of us in Chelsea look forward to each year. Also, Gigi's Flowers brightened the day of all of us who drive down Main Street by putting bright yellow flowers in her window. Inspired by this, the TreeHouse followed suit by filling their windows with bright yellow balloons. We hope Mother Nature will take this hint and urge her daffodils to follow suit.

In the meantime, we can enjoy a bit of spring inspiration this weekend with Youth Dance Theatre's ballet performance: "Awakening". This is how it is described on the YDT website:

On Sunday, March 1st at 2:00 PM, YDT will present its 2009 Spring production Awakening.

At this time of year, it's difficult to imagine any season other than winter in Michigan. In the midst of all that is gray and slushy, it is sometimes a challenge to remember the purple hues of early blooming hyacinths, or the warm glow of the sun in May, or the first rainbow after a springtime shower. Dancers from Youth Dance Theater of Michigan are not only imagining a change in seasons, they are currently preparing for their production of Awakening, a collection of several dance interpretations of the transformation of the seasons. Under the artistic direction of Wendi DuBois, dancers will bring to life the beauty that is the rebirth from winter into spring through pieces set to music by Vivaldi, Dag Wiren and others. Dance selections include interpretations of Giselle, the Sleeping Beauty Waltz, along with performances of jazz and modern dance.

YDT is pleased to welcome collaborators to this performance as well. Guest choreographers include Erik Abbot-Main, Carrie Schotte, and Rhonda Kendzicky. And as part of an exciting new partnership, Vivaldi's Winter will have live music performed by members of the Chelsea Chamber Players.

Any other signs of spring you've noticed around town?

4 comments:

Brian Spolarich said...

Everything in our yard is still frozen solid. But give a week above freezing and I suspect our burgeoning bulb crop will wake up quickly enough.

I can't remember but I think I put some more bulbs down last fall so who knows what I'll get this year? I'm not a very good gardener and don't remember what's where, so digging anywhere in our landscape is risky if you're worried about disturbing something in the ground.

But the crocuses and daffodils are definitely on my mind as I'm getting weary of the cold and the grey.

Leslie said...

Your bulbs look great though! When I see them blossom in the spring, it always makes me wish I would have remembered to do some fall planting, too. For this year, we are just waiting for things to thaw and dry out a bit so those pesky fall leaves that never got raked can be mowed/mulched into the lawn.

Mazenbloo said...

Hmmm...spring. It's 90+ degrees out and the sun is blazing. We do have some blooms going on around Tucson so I guess that's spring. LOL!

Leslie said...

You can come visit US here in Michigan during our real spring (May?) when you're reaching 100+ and we are a pleasant 70ish and sunny. (At least that's what a I vaguely remember... this winter has been sooooooo long!)