Roger Rabbits with Jim Bunny

I have been squeezed. As you can see. Not in a loving way. More a commercial imperative. But that’s okay – Jim Bunny’s quite chuffed than Spanbild wants to share his burrow on Page 2. I feel there’s a nice symmetry.

Now …. here’s the weather forecast. Pennsylvania has Punxsutawney Phil and I have a patch of daffodils.

PP is a hibernating groundhog who wakens and if he can’t see his own shadow, it indicates the early arrival of spring. If he can see his shadow, he retreats into his den and winter will go on for another six weeks.

It’s all superstition, a nonsense. Because Punxsutawney Phil has scored just 39 per cent over 137 years of seasonal predictions since 1887. An obvious question is how long do groundhogs live? Anyhow my patch of daffodils is not hocus-pocus.

Daffodils are nature’s barometer, telling us balmy days, beach and barbecues aren’t too far away. Daffs give heart. They rise in a patch beneath the trees on the large traffic island near where Ngatai Rd and Vale St split. Spring has sprung, the daffs are in bloom.

“…all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils,

Beside the traffic island, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”

I recently read a critique of ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ – my version above – and the writer couldn’t figure why it’s such a big deal. “Basically it’s just a guy saying he likes flowers…making the mundane sound deep and profound.”

Oh dear, William Wordsworth – just a guy who likes flowers?

The calendar tells us spring in New Zealand doesn’t officially happen until next month – September through November. Then we enjoy a period of renewal and optimism. The cold miserable landscape gives way to new life. We feel energised and motivated. Do we really? Sunlight increases the production of serotonin – a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of happiness and wellbeing. Where do you buy this stuff? Do they do bulk deals?

But beware the transition to spring isn’t without its downsides. For folks with SAD – or Seasonal Affective Disorder – the arrival of spring can trigger depression. Heaven forbid – let not everyone feel good for a moment. We generally associate SAD with the long dark days of autumn and winter – think Invercargill – but there is a side of SAD that can bring on anxiety, insomnia and irritability with the onset of spring and summer.

I manifest all those symptoms and spring hasn’t even arrived. Does it also cause grumpiness, unreasonableness and intolerance? I think I have SAD.

Spring is all over the CBD. Like my daffs, it too is blooming. That’s a heartening sight that should silence the naysayers and sceptics.

At 2 Devonport Rd, after months of groundworks, the steel supports have now sneaked above the hoardings. Google 2 Devonport Rd – it will be an impressive beast occupying one of the CBD’s prime commercial sites. There’s another new building just down The Strand – as soon as that project got to ground level it took off.

There’s the council’s new leased building at 90 Devonport Rd – the largest mass timber office building in Aotearoa. A few months ago I’d be heading into the office early in the morning, and I would follow the semi-trailers creeping along with enormous laminated beams. A few hours later they would be woven into the wooden jigsaw. There was a feeling of being part of something special. A city regenerating – sustainably. I eagerly await the opportunity to nosey inside that front door.

And I love all the confusion, chaos, workers, trucks and cranes; all the delays and activity down Hamilton St as Te Manawataki o Te Papa, the heartbeat of Te Papa, our new civic precinct comes together.

Well, the heartbeat is thumping excitedly. These are exciting times for Tauranga. This place will soon be pumping.