By Jim Langham

A few years ago in early March when I flew from our Ohio rural home to central Florida, the flight took me through Atlanta and on to Gainesville.

In the course of the journey, I was amazed by the progression of the season. From the barren late winter countryside of the midwest, landing in Atlanta produced green fairways dotted with golf carts and various early spring flowers.

Once I arrived in Gainesville, I walked into a land with spring in full bloom, complete with flowering dogwoods and blossoms addressed as “May flowers” in northern states.