Itinerary: Spring Follies

Spring whispers in our ear with jasmine breath and creates a sort of madness that has been documented through the centuries. The fickle weather taunts us with its promise of summer and re-stirring of, as one mother calls it, “friskiness.” When confronted with accusations of erratic behavior, we grin a lopsided grin, note the flutter in our heart and say, “It must be spring.”

Friday

Winter is in my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.

--Victor Hugo

It’s not enough that the transition between cold winter and warm breeze-laced sunshine messes with your head, but Good Friday and Friday the 13th fall on the same day this year. Count on superstition, religion and spring fever to up the romantic ante on Friday. Resist the urge to stay in bed; throw your hat into the ring of love. Invite a potential partner to an egg-decorating encounter at a smooch-friendly L.A. viewpoint: Griffith Park, Mulholland Drive or Santa Monica’s Palisades Park (along Ocean Avenue). Blow out the insides of raw eggs through a pinprick and save them for a swell breakfast. Pack a picnic basket with egg-decorating kits (Pic ‘N’ Save has the budget kits; most department stores offer deluxe versions), plus sandwiches and a split of bubbly and see if a fun custom will lead to other fun.

Saturday

Spring has sprung,

The grass has rizz,

I wonder where

The birdies iz.

--Ogden Nash

The birds are at Ernest Debs Regional Park (4325 Monterey Road, Los Angeles, open daily dawn to dusk). Debs is a 200-acre bird-land known mainly to locals. Parking and picnic tables are available, so pack a lunch. The urban wilderness area is home to scrub jays, Anna’s hummingbirds, and red-tail hawks. Dawn and late afternoon are the best times to catch your spring dose of birds and their friends.

There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.

--Rachel Carson

Artist Kasia Czerpak-Weglinski examines nature’s cycles using wax, pigment, gold leaf, copper, canvas, paper and wood in assembled organic compositions. The artist’s work is collected by UCLA, Harvard and the Ino-Cho Paper Museum, among others. A reception for Czerpak-Weglinski’s latest show, “Encaustic Assemblage,” will be held Saturday between 6 and 10 p.m. at Soapbox Gallery (701 Venice Blvd., [310] 305-9145).

Sunday

Every year, back come Spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants.

--Dorothy Parker

Before someone drags you off to brunch or fun with family, plant something. If you have a yard, this is the time to put in veggies and bulbs for later summer enjoyment. If you don’t have any green space, get some pots at the Marina del Rey Garden Center (13198 Mindanao Way, Marina del Rey, [310] 823-5956) and create a pretty window or deck garden. Enjoy the lightheadedness that all that new oxygen provides.

In the spring, a young man’s fancy turns to love.

--Alfred Lord Tennyson

Go ahead. Propose. ‘Tis the season. Tell your intended that you’re going for a drive. Take along some wildflower seeds and throw them out of your car window onto deserted scraps of ugly earth. No one will bust you for littering and in a few weeks, if you’re lucky, your “secret garden” will spring up. Even if it doesn’t, your love will love you for the thought. Watch for poetry in the mail.