It’s the time of the year that I like the most. OK, so I have a birthday in March. A good reason to take stock and look ahead. This year my age moves from one tick box to the next. So many surveys and questionnaires divide ages categories at 64 – 65.
My father-in-law, now long past, was an accountant. He’d often quote a dated joke. It’s more of a pun. “Old accountants never die; they just get broken down by age and sex.”
What’s even more special than that is the point on the astronomical calendar. No, not the astrological calendar. Although for note, I was born under the star sign Pisces. Which I am more than happy about. Smart, creative, and intuitive. Those characteristics might be plucked out of an astrologist’s scribblings, but I’ll take that.
Spring is sprung. The vernal equinox is on 20 March. And that’s official enough for me.
Usually, I have another marker for spring and it’s because of an English town, where I once lived. It’s the time of the Cheltenham Gold Cup[1]. This is a popular horse racing event held in Gloucestershire, UK. It has a huge impact on the town. I write this because back in the late 1980s I remember watching the racing in a snowstorm. Looking out on that huge bowl-shaped racecourse as snowflakes sprinkled the ground. Quite a picture, windswept and cold. It certainly was memorable.
On my calendar proper Spring can’t happen until the Gold Cup is done and dusted. This year that’s on the 14 March. Just before Spring officially begins.
By the way, I can squeeze aviation into this celebration of the onset of Springtime. The central area of racecourse in Cheltenham becomes a helicopter park. This experiences about 300 helicopter movements per day for the four-day duration of the racing. As the weather improves in the UK so general aviation wakes-up.
The seasons have a rhythm about them which is powerfully reassuring. Just at the moment, nothing in the News can be said to be reassuring. I’m sure, the signs of the zodiac didn’t predict these last few weeks. Rhythm has broken into arbitrary disruptions.
As the conflict in Ukraine continues the positions taken by western allies becomes ever more confused. To the extent that the word “allies” may need a second look.
I’d always say the Spring is a time for hope and optimism. I think we all are looking for that hope and optimism.
John Vincent 