The mail on March 18 arrived with two packages: contact lenses for Kelly and my latest Field Notes quarterly edition, “Signs of Spring.” The timing was just about perfect since this year, the vernal equinox is March 20 (tomorrow, as I write this). This edition is something of a milestone for me. By my count it is my 25th conesecutive quarterly special edition. I began buying annual subscriptions beginning with the Summer 2016 “Byline” edition.
The most current edition comes with a yellow, textured cover and dot-grid pages. In addition, the package came with an extra standard Field Notes notebook, with a back cover matching that cover the subscription box, itself something of a work of art. Also in the box: a Field Notes “band of rubber” and a pen. These pens usually go to the family, since I use Pilot G-2s. Field Notes pens are scattered around every room of the house.
I always look forward to the begining of spring. It is the best season. It is hard to appreciate the spring without having preceeded it with a winter that includes cold weather and snow. It is those winters that make spring all the better. Spring used to mark the new year, and I like that. My birthday falls toward the beginning of spring and one’s birthday seems the most logical way to mark a new year, since it is quite literally the beginning of a new year for you.
The name “Signs of Spring” is fitting for an edition released in conjunction with the vernal equinox. We tend to think of spring as a time of beginnings. Flowers beging to bloom again, leaves reappear on trees. Spring cleaning is a kind of renewals too. It was at the beginning of spring that for many years, I reread Isaac Asimov’s 3-volume memoir.
Ideally, the beginning of spring marks a perfect time to start a new Field Notes notebook. But I started one not too long ago, lost it, found it, and still have not filled it up yet. I like filling a notebook before moving onto a new one, so this spring, the timing isn’t quite right. In the meantime, my “Signs of Spring” notesbooks have been added to my Field Notes collection. I’ll fill one eventually, and probably give one or two away as little gifts along the way.
Written on March 19, 2022.
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