March 17th, 2014

Signs of Spring

by Brian Walker, Greg Walker and Chance Browne

The month of March is a tantalizing time of the year for us in the northeast.  Temperatures can soar into the 60s during the days and plunge below freezing at night.  Mounds of dirty snow, which ring the roadsides and driveways, are reminders of the long winter.  The sounds of chirping birds provide a promise of warmer weather to come.

The signs of spring are everywhere.  The clocks have sprung forward.  The Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is on the stands.  Spring training baseball games signal the start of a new season.  The N.C.A.A. “March Madness” basketball tournament is about to begin.  Spring fashions fill the sales flyers and mail order catalogs.

Chance Browne and I both live in Wilton, Connecticut.  It’s a typical New England town with tall church steeples, old stonewalls and antique Colonial homes.  Here is a photo of the gazebo in the town center.

Gazebo in Wilton Town Center.

We frequently feature scenes from Wilton in the panels of Hi and Lois.  It helps to reinforce the feeling that the Flagstons are a real family living in a real place.  This locale also provides us with four distinct seasons, a nearby body of water and close proximity to an urban area.

In early March of 2001, we did a Sunday page that showed Lois and Trixie going for a walk in the town center.

Hi and Lois Sunday page, March 18, 2001.

The stores and sidewalks, as well as the gazebo and church spire in the background, should be recognizable to residents of Wilton.  We have featured other local landmarks in the strip, which we will share with you in future posts.

And stayed tooned for more spring-themed episodes as the season continues to change.

– Brian Walker