Signs you might be Up North

The trilliums are in full bloom.  Hundreds of them flow over the drumlins, staking their claim to the land. 

Cars and trucks with For Sale signs stuck in the windows sprout along the highway.  Optimists polish up the family buggy, slap a price and a phone number on it, park it out front of the house or at the edge of a parking lot, and wait hopefully.  If they nab a buyer, they can buy that flashy new model they’ve been eyeing over at the dealer.  There are a lot of trucks and vans and SUVs in the mix, along with this Honda Civic that’s been parked on the far corner of the Eastport Market parking lot this week, right by US-31.

I am almost always in the market for a good used car, just out of habit.  What I really want is a Dodge Caravan with all-wheel drive.  (OK, what I really want is an F150 but I don’t think I should have it.)  Anyway, I trotted over to take pictures of the Honda and make note of the particulars.

Wait, wait—this car manufactured from a Japanese engine and tranny plus assorted parts made in North America was assembled in England???  In living memory—Nora Metz’s living memory anyway—the roads around here were still traveled on a regular basis by horsedrawn vehicles.  In that blink of an eye we’ve gone from horses to Model Ts to the Big Three to Hondas assembled in England.  The mind reels.  The world, however, spins merrily along on its axis, tilting, at this time of year, ever so slightly toward the sun for those of us Up North.  It will be astonishing to see what comes next.