April 3, 2003.
Spring in Atlanta


You can say what you like about Atlanta. You can say it's full of bigots, that it's poorly planned, that it's too big for its britches, that it doesn't have a good night life. And all of that would be true, at least to some degree.

But one thing you can't say is anything bad about springtime in Atlanta. It is like a little piece of heaven on earth.



I walked down to the Georgia's stately capitol building last week to take some photos of the glorious tulips down there. They seem to go on and on, these wide bands of perfect yellow tulips, bobbing in the breeze. It's a spectacle. Why were all the businesspeople and legislators briskly hustling right past the tulips, without granting even a sideways glance to the tulips? Fools, all of them!




These pictures remind me that I should write myself a little note to plant 5,000 yellow tulips out in front of the house this fall. Stick it on the bathroom mirror or whatever.



Well, I guess you could say one bad thing about Atlanta in the springtime: pollen. The pollen is positively out of control in early April. Everything in Atlanta takes on a gritty yellow cast this time of year. The visible coat of pollinated grime on the cars never fails to crack me up. It's just so over the top. (Maybe I laugh because I'm lucky enough not to suffer greatly from allergies. But I shouldn't laugh too loudly. Some people are in sheer misery this time of year.)

When Atlanta gets rain in early April, the pollen washes off the cars and trees and leaves, and runs down the sidewalks in a great yellow tide. It collects in stagnant pools at the edges of the street. The yellow foam of pollen swirling into the clear pools of rainwater it reminds me of what happens when I stir cream into my coffee. (Yes, it really does look like that.)



The time change happens this weekend! I love the long, cool, mild dusk of summer in Atlanta. That extra hour of daylight at the end of each day is a prize indeed. I'll be wearing my favorite (pollen-colored!) shirt this weekend to celebrate the occasion.