"To Spring" - Happy Harmonies (1936)

This winter has seemed to drag on forever, so I thought I’d repost this cartoon from last year. It seems to fit the yo-yo like weather which we have been experiencing here for the past month or so. Hopefully we have seen the last of the bad weather until next year…

The MGM series of Happy Harmonies cartoons were really not preserved as well as many of the other cartoons of the era. However, there are still some real gems out there. Like this one, “To Spring”, in which the elves are awakened from their winter’s nap by the dripping of the melting ice which slowly sets off the alarm clock to awaken them to their annual task. It is a very important one, too.

You see, these elves are in charge of putting color back into the world after the bleak period of winter has passed. They seem to be enjoying themselves until Old Man Winter makes one final push to regain control over the elements, keeping things cold and bleak. But the elves are up to the challenge, restoring the world to its colorful array of beauty and its natural cycle of life.

Spring Has Sprung

Well, spring has officially sprung once again, and most of the nation will be glad to see it arrive! The past winter was unpredictable and fraught with strange and dangerous weather, which we will all be glad to see gone. Here in the Charlotte area we were lucky, with only one light dusting of snow last month. The rest of the state didn't do quite as well, with some flooding and wind damage, but nothing when compared to the storm related damages elsewhere.

As you can see, we have completely re-done our backyard, extending the patio and adding a couple of fountains and a reflecting pool. We even had a few sculptures placed in order to give it a more unique flavor. Once everything begins blooming, it should be even more beautiful.

Actually, that is Stowe Botanical Gardens on Gaston County, about 40 minutes from our house. I was thinking of posting this for April Fool’s Day, but changed my mind. The gardens were spectacular, though spring was still three days away from making its arrival when I took this photo last Sunday.

Spring is a time of renewal. Everything that left for the winter comes back again. And the cycle starts all over. For me, there is a strange comfort in that; knowing that the end of one season marks the beginning of the next; somehow that makes it easier to wade through the winter months, “waiting for the sun.”