date stamp: 2 p.m. gmt, march 21, 2009

Spring. For those of us blogging in the Western Hemisphere, finding signs of spring was the central theme for this date stamp.

It wasn't always easy.

Date stampers in the United Kingdom seemed to have the best luck capturing photos and impressions of warm weather and welcoming flowers and (off)spring bouncing on trampolines and celebrating Mother's Day. One lucky Londoner chased spring to a little-known harbor in Morocco, where her efforts were rewarded in the most refreshing way.

West of them, spring received a chillier reception, where frost greeted the morning in New York, and a good, strong cup of coffee was the order of the day in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Up north in Toronto, spring seemed to awaken the Muse for one screenwriter, who promptly, wisely, answered the call.

In Louisville, Kentucky, a young woman on the verge of adulthood prepared for one of spring's most venerated rites of passage in the Christian world, while three thousand miles west of there, in California, a child slept through the small hours. Like spring, she is only just beginning to awaken to her beauty and power and potential.

In Beijing, bicycles bowed to the bossy, blustery winds that are a regular visitor at this time of the year, as the tropics of Singapore put things back to right in the wake of a tremendous thunderstorm.

But perhaps the most stirring signs of spring were to be found in Tikrit, Iraq, where wildflowers managed, against arid odds, to push through the soil surrounding a helo pad on an American Army base.

That flowers can bloom in a desert, during a drought, from soil that's been drenched in decades of aggression and destruction and uncertainty seems a courageous thing, and may be the best indicator that spring and all its promises are indeed on the way.

Check out the compilation video of date stamps for the month of March, 2009, and then read what the bloggers had to say about spring in their part of the world.

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Inswaume Harbour
Morocco, Africa
GMT
(2 p.m., local time)

We've all just come out of the water after surfing at Inswaume — a really other worldly harbour, where the waves break against the harbour wall and go all the way in to the shore — I just rode a wave pretty much all the way in — a fantastic rush!

— Pearl Howie
Screenwriter, Filmmaker

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London, England
United Kingdom
GMT
(2 p.m. local time)

I think these daffodils must be camera-shy. Believe me, they turned their heads away the moment the shutter clicked. Must be that hybrid variety called "No publicity!"

— Kathryn Radmall

Screenwriter

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London, England
United Kingdom
GMT
(2 p.m. local time)

Crystal Palace, Spanish sky.

— Elinor Perry-Smith
Screenwriter, Blogger

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Dorset, England
United Kingdom
GMT
(2 p.m. local time)

Proof it's night on impossible to get a bunch of kids to smile, all at the same time... A rare glimpse of my kids Lilirose, 2 (front) and Alf, 10 (the dodgy/evil one at the back in the mustard striped shirt) with their friends (left to right) Jack, 6, Charlie, 10, Kimberley, 12 and Liam, 8. It's a fantastically sunny day here in Dorset and the kids are spending all their time on the trampoline and hitting each other with sticks. As all children should.

— Lucy V. Hay
Screenwriter, Blogger

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Edinburgh, Scotland
United Kingdom
GMT
(2 p.m. local time)

The start of spring heralds a weekend of birthdays and family visits for this household. We bought this beautiful plant from a local florist as a present, and it looked so lovely that it made me wish I'd bought one for myself!

— Laura Anderson
Freelance Writer and Filmmaker

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Toronto, Ontario
Canada
GMT -5
(9 a.m. local time)

Inspiration is a tricky thing. Being that a lot of 'date stampers' are writers/artists, it's probably not hard to understand how tough that can be sometimes. So on a day when I had picked out an interesting architectural subject to photograph, I instead got dragged back to my friend/enemy/lover - my laptop, and started writing. Alas, an interesting picture was replaced by a mundane one... Hope the script doesn't turn out that way...

— Svet Rouskov
Screenwriter

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New York, New York
United States
GMT - 5
(9 a.m. local time)

Since the theme for this date stamp is "spring," I thought I'd give it an ironic twist, just like Mother Nature did. In the New York/NJ area, the first day of spring was punctuated by... snow. Yep — big, wet, white flakes of snow. Nothing stuck (at least in New York) but it really was something, to wake up on the first day of spring, look out the window and see snow. The next day was sunny and snowless, but as you can see from the picture, there's still not a whole lot of evidence of spring. The frost still clings to the pachysandra in my parents' backyard in NJ, and the only plants with buds are inside the house — so much for spring having sprung!

— Mrinalini Kamath
Playwright, Filmmaker

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Raleigh, North Carolina
United States
GMT - 5
(9 a.m. local time)

The first day of Spring in Raleigh, North Carolina – a balmy 39°F (4°C) – sunny and bright and beautiful. And although today is gorgeous, people remain indoors with their coffee and pastry and friends.

And to look at the parking lot – a packed parking lot at that – you gotta ask yourself: Where’s the recession?

Anyway, I’m back inside, ready to write – with my coffee and pastry surrounded by a sea of familiar faces.

— Michael Scherer
Screenwriter

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Louisville, Kentucky
United States
GMT - 5
(9 a.m. local time)

One rite of spring is sacramental: Confirmation at the Cathedral of the Assumption. My daughter is listening to Sister Lisa instruct her and twelve other teens who will receive the sacrament of Confirmation at the Easter Vigil in two weeks. There is a cozy feeling here, this morning; it is a gathering of dear friends, who are either parents or sponsors of these fledgling Christians. And in joy, I fly out the doors in time to catch the sonorous toll of ten strokes from the chiming clock tower of this dear Church.

— Jeanne Hammond
Screenwriter

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Westlake Village, California
United States
GMT - 8
(6 a.m. local time)


A few more date stamps now, and you will have the benefit of sunlight to work with. For the time being, your part of the world is still asleep at 2 p.m. GMT, and as much as you prefer the warmth and comfort of your bed at this time of day, you're glad you didn't miss this moment.

At ten years of age, she is still a child, but you see signs of the young woman she will be stirring. Like spring, the seeds have been planted, are already taking root. It is only a matter of time.

She is both thrilled and terrified, knowing that she will not be a little girl for much longer. Maybe that's why she is not ashamed to be seen here, clinging to her favorite bear, Mercedes. In truth, the bear could use a good spin through the washing machine, but she won't even entertain the idea. Mercedes has nursed her through flus and tears and the passing of her grandmother, and in her eyes, the bear wears these memories in the folds of her sleeves and the crust on her coat. That's where her childhood lingers.

Fair enough. It's the springtime of her life, after all, and you want her to savor every last second of it.

— Pamela Schott
Author, Screenwriter

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Beijing, China
GMT + 8
(10 p.m. local time)

AT THE CROSSROADS... What constantly strikes me about China — in the eight months that I've lived here — is the seeming incongruity of things. Tonight, on a wide avenue lined with four- and five-star hotels, lie a row of bicycles blown down by Beijing's strong spring winds. This could be any street in any international city, with its high-end boutiques and ornate facades. Yet there are these dusty bikes that have fallen on each other, occupying the median that separates the main road from the bicycle lane. Perhaps it's the only place bicycles are allowed to park. Do the bike-riders work in one of the hotels or restaurants in the area? Bicycles are still the mode of transport for many people. On this upscale, and impersonal boulevard, just a couple of blocks away from The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, I wonder about such people. They are not unlike myself, buffeted by the winds of change.

— Ginley Regencia

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Royal Ville
Singapore
GMT + 8
(10 p.m. local time)

The first day of spring... Well, no such thing in the tropics really! The night is cool from the afternoon's monster thunderstorm, we're lounging around watching TV and digesting our dinner, while our cat ponders the state of the world around him. Could he be secretly coming up w/ solutions to the world's economy? Or is he possibly plotting an attack on one of our ankles? Or... am I just a tad bored that I'd be thinking about what that little brain could be doing at this very moment? Time for bed methinks!

— Sonia Marzuki
Freelance Writer, PR Consultant

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Tikrit, Iraq
GMT + 3
(5 p.m. local time)

On this, the first full day of spring, it’s hard to find signs of the season, partly for being in Iraq, party for being in the middle of a drought. I looked high and low, and found these flowers out by a helo pad, flowers tall enough to gently sway in the breeze.

— Art La Flamme
Blogger/Army Serviceman

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Elsewhere in the world:

Panama Canal, Panama
United States
GMT - 8
(6 a.m. local time)

Australian Station
Antarctica
GMT + 4
(6 p.m. local time)

Abbey Road
London, England
United Kingdom
GMT
(2 p.m. local time)

Venice Grand Canal, Italy

GMT +1
(3 p.m. local time)

Paris, France
GMT + 1
(3 p.m. local time)