When Spring Returns to Cape Cod

When the temperature reaches single digits, as it did here at the High Pointe Inn on Cape Cod last night, I start looking for signs of spring. Chalk it up to a “Peter Pan” syndrome, but scanning my world for signs that spring is on the horizon cheers me up, gives me hope, and most importantly, helps me focus on the positive. “Accent the positive, eliminate the negative, and latch on to the affirmative…” a Johnny Mercer tune, pretty much outlines my approach to life.

So it was welcome news that the Red Sox equipment truck left Fenway Park yesterday and headed south to Fort Myers, Florida, home to Boston’s spring training. For many New Englanders that is the first and most significant sign that spring will indeed come to Red Sox nation. Catchers and pitchers report to camp on February 15, with the rest of the club reporting on the 19th. And once again, the quest begins.

But that is not the only sign of spring I look for in the days and weeks that lead up to the season opener. Each week, it seems, another harbinger of spring arrives. Here, in no particular order, are the ones that speak to me:

1. The goldfinches shed their winter green feathers for summer sunshine yellow.
2. Crocuses peek their heads up through the snow.
3. Spring peepers start to chirp.
4. Skunk cabbage returns to swampy areas.
5. Boston Gift Show.
6. Boston Flower Show.
7. Kreme ‘N Cone reopens.
8. Seafood Sam’s reopens.
9. Cooke’s Seafood reopens.
10. Captain Frosty’s reopens.
11. Sesuit Harbor Café reopens.
12. Forsythia buds.
13. Heritage Museum and Gardens reopens.
14. Steamship Authority high-speed ferry to Nantucket resumes
15. Nantucket Daffodil Festival.

Of course, you may spot a theme in numbers 7-11, but as a confirmed clam shack aficionado I have my priorities. But, if you’re in need of something to look forward to, we have a great “Spring Fling” package available from March 1 through May 14 that is sure to bring spring into your heart.