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Inside Out

A Callicoon connection to spring

Jeanne Sager
Posted 3/28/23

Scientists tell us it’s officially Ok to welcome the beginning of spring when the Earth’s equator is aligned directly with the sun on the vernal equinox, a phenomenon that came to pass …

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Inside Out

A Callicoon connection to spring

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Scientists tell us it’s officially Ok to welcome the beginning of spring when the Earth’s equator is aligned directly with the sun on the vernal equinox, a phenomenon that came to pass back on March 20 at exactly 5:24 p.m.

I firmly believe in science, a sentence I wouldn’t believe I would have had to utter or share in a newspaper prior to a few years ago. 

Still, my preferred method of determining spring is upon us has a direct tie to our own beloved area. 

I’m talking, of course, about the robin, the red-breasted bird whose appearance in the yard is supposed to herald the end of winter. The truth, according to ornithologists (bird scientists) is the robins may or may not actually be around all year-long, depending on where you live, and there has long been a debate over whether these birds are truly the sing of the season. 

The truth is, some northern locales may see the robin flocks disappear for winter; others may not. 

Even if I saw a robin in winter, I’m pretty sure I’d block it out of my mind. I wouldn’t be ready yet. 

My love of the robin and loyalty to its role in welcoming the season comes from the song most associated with the robin’s spring-time movements.

Sung by the likes of Doris Day, Bing Crosby and Dean Martin over the years, “When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along” was penned by lyricist Harry M. Woods when he was residing in Callicoon, in 1926, but it’s somehow remained in the zeitgeist for nearly 100 years. It popped up again as recently as 2017 when it was re-recorded by jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington more than nine decades after it was first written. 

Growing up, I heard time and again that the song had been written just up the road from where I was being raised right along the Delaware River, and robins tend to send me straight back to childhood.

Which is exactly what the song expects of all of us. Just take a look at a sample lyric. 

“Rain may glisten, but still I listen for hours and hours.

I’m just a kid again, doing what I did again, singing a song,

When the red, red robin comes bob, bob bobbin’ along.”

Happy spring from this Callicoon kid! 

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