Spring Edges Closer as History Harkens

It hasn’t even officially sprung yet, but it’s already clear that spring won’t be coming in like a lamb this year. It’ll be more like a peacock, or a toucan, or some other loud, showy thing. Right now, in its youthful phase, it is leaving it’s colorful mark all over the landscape, like a happy toddler with finger paints.

The birds are so hysterical they can’t wait for dawn; they are belting out their greatest hits at 3 a.m. The trumpet vines have already taken over the eaves and are now threatening to explode through the windows and lay claim to the house. I’d be too afraid to sleep if I wasn’t already awake from the birds.

With all this evidence of renewal, we ought to be looking ahead to a bright, sunlit future. But this weekend, there are interesting opportunities to look back.

Those intrigued by World War II planes might consider a trip to the Camarillo Airport, where the local wing of the Confederate Air Force (a name that started as a prank in 1957 and stuck), houses a museum of sorts, stuffed with meticulously restored airplanes and all matter of World War II paraphernalia.

Jane Hulse, who wrote this week’s Centerpiece story on the museum (page 38), went to the airport to meet members and watch them tinker. “I was struck,” she said “by the amount of history in our own backyard.”

One of the planes at the museum is the organization’s newest restoration project, a Japanese Zero, the type of fighter plane used in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Some of the restorers--those who fought during WWII--can remember having an altogether different sort of relationship with the Zero. But the plane is being subjected to the same meticulous treatment as any other.

“Many of these guys are World War II vets and they are getting older,” Hulse said. “When they are gone, there won’t be anyone to carry on this tradition.”

For a Sunday excursion that takes the family further back in history, check out today’s Jaunts column (page 7) for information on the Gold Rush Game.