As you can tell by the picture it wasn’t taken in Palm Springs, but that doesn’t mean all the essentials for a late Palm Springs afternoon in mid-January aren’t all in place: Hemingway daiquiri (mine is a variation on the Papa Doble version in a classic glass, shaker with a little extra ready for refill once the first two icy sips are taken, “Boat Drinks” table from the Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville Online Store (a collectors item since they’ve stopped selling it!), swimming pool with obligatory fountain, palm trees, and happy pleasing colors all around. In January I especially appreciate the green – hey, I know where I come from and how lucky I am to be here this time of year!

And the spring part is real, as, even though there’s nary a smidge of it appearing back in New England, there are signs of Arizona spring everywhere. The mourning doves have started reappearing, filling the late afternoons with their coos and mating calls, my Feathery Acacia (the first plant on our property that blooms) has buds that look, oh, a week away from bursting into bright yellow flowers, and word from the weather folks is that we’ll hit 80 for the first time this year on Thursday.

Walking down to the corner to the mailbox in the lengthening afternoons you can really feel the difference between, say, a month ago. The air feels different and it smells more fragrant. When I was hitting balls last Sunday it was the first time since November that I felt like I should have put some SPF 40 on – the sun had that little bit of extra bite that I hadn’t felt even a week earlier.

Pretty soon I’m gonna have to get crackin’ on the chores needed to get the place ready for another brutal summer. The parts of the patio painted in coral need a new coat of paint, I need to schedule the pool being drained and acid washed, and I have to assess whether I can get through just one more year without having to order some new Tahitian thatch for the Tiki bar roof.

But that’s all for another time – this afternoon it’s all about the palms and the spring.