Mother Nature

At this time of year, when winter hangs on stubbornly, you need not head toward the equator for a sustaining dose of spring. Simply head north to the Philadelphia Flower Show. At 177 years old, it is the oldest, largest and certainly the most ambitious display of horticulture in the United States. Covering 10 acres in the cavernous Pennsylvania Convention Center beginning tomorrow and continuing through next Sunday, the flower show annually attracts more than a quarter of a million garden enthusiasts during its weeklong stay.

WHILE I'M always happy when the underdog wins, with last week's tobacco verdict I nonetheless fear we have stepped upon a slippery legal slope.To quickly recount a trial whose speed rivaled that of the Ice Age: A jury found Big Tobacco deliberately suppressed evidence linking smoking to disease.The plaintiffs stand to collect. They'd like $200 billion.When I heard about this verdict I asked: The evidence was covered up? I don't smoke, but I long ago surmised that burning a plant that oozes tar, then breathing the acrid fumes, is a bad way to train for the Boston Marathon.

I thought the first day of Spring would make a good occasion to mark the arrival of Midweek Madness on Artsmash. This featurette was such a keystone of my previous blog, Clef Notes and Drama Queens, that I had no choice but to bow to the total lack of popular demand and carry it over to this one. So, while you are celebrating the Vernal Equinox today, don't forget Brook Benton's advice to slow down and smell the flowers -- 'cause "if Mother Nature...

Get a bad case of eye glaze when Save-the-Bay types start dropping terms such as "impervious surface," "stormwater runoff" or (zzzzzz) "woody vegetation"? Well, wake up, Maryland. Mother Nature is now demonstrating why it is so vital not only to the Chesapeake Bay but to life in general and the local economy in particular to restore and keep intact the region's ability to absorb swift, sudden downpours. Daily routine has been wildly disrupted as roads washed out, basements flooded, and creeks and rivers overflowed their banks.

From the Should-Be-Obvious Department comes word that divorce is bad for the environment. It's not that Mother Nature gives a fig about marital status, or even gender, for that matter. But she's quite upset when households of two or more split up to become two or more households. For the sake of saving land, water, energy and other scarce resources, she wants people to live together. The contention that two can live as cheaply as one may overstate the case a bit. But from the standpoint of the ecology as well as the economy, two can live at least as cheaply as one and a half - sharing heating, air conditioning and lighting, as well as the refrigerator, the dishwasher, the television and other energy-consuming appliances.

Piney Run Park will offer children's nature programs - "Mother Nature, Mom and Me" and "Babes in the Woods" - beginning next month. Children will learn about nature through hands-on activities, crafts, songs and stories. Each session is 45 minutes long and is devoted to a different topic each month. The cost is $10 for children of members, and $12 for children of nonmembers. "Mother Nature, Mom and Me," for ages 4 to 5, will be offered at 10 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. one day a week, Sept.

THE QUESTION What was your favorite underrated concert movie, one that quietly touched the soul or maybe came and went in a flash of pyrotechnics? WHAT YOU SAY For me, The Harder They Come and Rockers were the all-time greatest concert movies. They introduced me to reggae and, even better, to a culture that lives on far less yet seems to get a lot more out of it than the rest of us. BECKY SQUIRES, ALEXANDRIA, VA. THE NEXT QUESTION Global warming is nothing to laugh at, the arrival next week of the animated comedy Ice Age: The Meltdown notwithstanding.

THE URGE TO PLANT RUNS WILD these days. A few days of warm weather roll in and I can't wait to start scratching the ground. Recently, I picked up a shovel and planted a few pea seeds. No sooner had I put my spade and stiff shoulders to rest, than Norm, Tom and Bob -- the three television wise men of weather -- predicted snowfall and freezing temperatures. I worried. When the sun was shining, I rooted for the seeds to sprout. When the clouds rolled in and the temperature plummeted, I prayed for the seeds to remain dormant, away from the killing winds.

Mother Nature, computerized graphics and, at times, a combination of the two -- nature as seen through the eyes of a computer -- are some of the themes inspiring this season's sweater offerings for men.The Marienbad line offers several examples of these trends. Along with the characteristic boldly graphic and brightly colored sweaters for which they are known is a black cardigan covered with falling maple leaves. Side by side with the mellow oranges, browns and yellows you'd expect are whimsical blue, periwinkle and burgundy leaves.

Mother Nature smiled on Monday's Christmas Open House of 19th and 20th Century Historic Havre de Grace Churches, helping the annual event reach record attendance, according to its organizer. "It was wonderful," Ray Astor of Havre de Grace said. "We had more people than we've ever had - a big turnout. The weather was beautiful. " Unlike a year ago when snow and ice intervened and forced postponement, the sun was shining Monday, a slight breeze was blowing and temperatures approached 50 degrees.