March 09, 2004
Daffodils
Anyone who's ever moved countries or continents will know how strange it is to suddenly experience different climates and weather systems. But for those who move hemispheres, it's the seasons being out of whack that make you realise you're a long way from home. Nothing seems to make sense.
If you're from Down Under, like me, the sun doesn't shine in July, leaves don't turn colour in October and daffodils definitely don't bloom in March.
I've lived in the UK for five-and-a-half years and yet whenever I see daffodils in bloom, their flowery yellow heads popping up out of the still cold earth as they are doing now, my mind immediately thinks it's September. And then I start to shake with fear.
You see I have a weird association with daffodils. It's all because of the rural area I come from and where, after nine years of living/studying in two cities (Melbourne and Brisbane), I returned to work on the local rag.
Every August and September became a blur of reportage on the town's annual show-stopping, heart-jumping, knee-trembling, extravaganza that drew flower-frenzied people from far and wide. But for the journalists covering the Leongatha Daffodil Festival it was the biggest pain in the neck you could imagine.
Try taking "imaginative" photographs of gardeners with their prize-winning blooms in hand while asking them "interesting" questions about their "success". There's only so many ways you can ask people how they feel about winning the best bloom in section C2.
Or, better still, try getting a bunch of kids, including the Daffodil Princess and the Daffodil Prince (yes, really), to stop running amok for just 30 seconds so you can take their photograph for your front page "scoop".
I mean, is it any wonder that when I see daffodils in bloom I start having heart palpitations? But then I remember, that's all in the past. The daffodil festival is another lifetime, another hemisphere away. And what's more, it's not even September. . .
Posted by kimbofo at March 9, 2004 08:17 PMAs a Brit who was just recently in Oz for a year, it's weird being back to "normal" seasons again. Over there it was just so mixed up for me. Was it spring? Was it the wet? The dry? Winter? Autumn? Some hidden twilight zone?!! I travelled round Australia with the sun and the Dry, so I didn't experience winter for about 15 months. Boy, was that a good idea. But coming back to "seasons" is a real shocker. I did miss the daffodils, though!
Posted by: jen at March 10, 2004 09:14 AMI tend to have the same sorts of observations, but with fruit. I never have any clue what fruits are in season when in France, especially since I can't even manage to figure out what fruits are grown locally and which are imported from warmer climates. Ah, life is complicated.
Posted by: kim at March 10, 2004 12:49 PM
I just realised I am now the reverse of you. I headed from the rains of Ireland to the sun of Queensland.
I currently strugle at Christmas time. Its just that teh shops play "dashing through the snow on a one horse open sleigh...." and it 35oC outside!
Does Santa come to oz in Board shorts?
"If you're from Down Under, like me, the sun doesn't shine in July, leaves don't turn colour in October and daffodils definitely don't bloom in March."
I feel a song coming on.
The Winter Blues
Woke up this morning
and my seasons were gone.
My spring and my summer,
my love on the lawn,
all gone gone gone gone.
But I'm not Lightnin' Hopkins, so I'll stop that.
By the way, did you know that Leongatha has one of Australia's largest milk processing plants? I picture a giant vine, or maybe a giant daffodil, sucking the milk from cows and processing it somehow.
Posted by: Eeksy-Peeksy at March 16, 2004 11:52 AMDear all - thanks for your comments!
The daffodils are still freaking me out but it's nice to know other people understand how confusing it is to experience the seasons at what appears to be the "wrong" time of year.
And yes, Nomadic, I do believe Santa wears board shorts when in Oz. He also gives the reindeers a rest and hires a bunch of rogue kangaroos to haul his sleigh!
Eeksy - tell me about the milk processing plant in Leongatha! I was always brought up to believe that it was the biggest butter factory in the southern hemisphere, but who am I to quibble? Hee, hee.
The seasons thing has been turning my head 'round, too. I've been in Australia since the beginning of the year, and have had the craziest time reconciling going to the beach in the hot sun when according to the calendar I should be walking around in the snow.
But best of all, for the first time in my life, this winter baby got to celebrate her birthday on a warm, breezy summer evening. That was pretty nice.
Posted by: wildsoda at March 20, 2004 08:14 AM