Old mesquites haven't put out spring's signals

According to the calendar, Thursday marks the first official day of spring, and our mostly mild temperatures would suggest the calendar's right.

But residents of the Texas Midwest know there's only one way to be certain spring has truly arrived. It's the old mesquites - a higher authority than any calendar. Young mesquites might be fooled and often are. But the old mesquites know.

With the thermometer frequently registering in the 80s during March this year, it looks as though a lot of our foliage has already been blooming. But according to Reporter-News investigations, that doesn't include the old mesquites, who seem to be holding in while other plant life is springing out.

It's a tradition each year around the first signs of spring to pay tribute to the wisdom of the mesquites, and to the talents of Frank Grimes, editor of the Reporter-News from 1919 until his death in 1961.

Mr. Grimes' poem, which has been memorized by generations of school children throughout the Abilene area, was first published in this newspaper on March 28, 1939.

The Old Mesquites Ain't Out

We see some signs of returning spring,

The redbird's back and the fie' larks sing.

The ground's plowed up and the creeks run clear.

The onions sprout and the rosebud's near;

And yet they's a point worth thinkin' about -

We note that the old

mesquites ain't out!

The fancier trees are in full bloom -

The grass is green and the willows bloom.

The colts kick up and the calves bend down.

And spring's a-pear-ently come to town;

And yet they's a point worth thinkin' about -

We note that the old

mesquites ain't out!

Well, it may be spring for all we know -

There ain't no ice and there ain't no snow.

It looks like spring and it smells so, too.

The calendar says it's plenty true -

And still they's a point worth thinkin' about -

We note that the old

mesquites ain't out!