There were a couple hundred of your neighbors out on the town Monday night, all getting an advance taste of spring.

It was "Dorchester Night" at Bayside Expo Center's New England Flower Show, and the event has become one of our town's best annual traditions. Each year, at mid-March, Dot becomes the center of attention for long-suffering Bostonians waiting out the winter. The arrival here over 20 years ago of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's major event has put our community "on the map," as the show attracts upwards of 100,000 flower fans to Dorchester each year.

Happily, the event is a great attraction for local folks as well. For 10 days each March, the huge Bayside complex is converted into a wonderful array of color and warmth, a mix of green and splashes of colorful flowers, trees in full bloom, and lush lawns in all their mid-summer splendor. It is the perfect antidote for the doldrums of these late winter days.

The community owes great thanks too to the Corcoran Jennison companies, owners of the Bayside Center for bringing this attraction to our town. Bayside president Joseph J. Corcoran and his staff opened the doors on Monday night to host scores of Dorchester residents to a reception at the adjacent BTU hall, followed by the chance to enjoy the show. A low-key event, the Dot night is a classy way for the Bayside folks to stay in touch and make friends with community residents. They are good neighbors, and they deserved to be praised for the efforts.

-Ed Forry

The flower show is here, and St. Patrick's celebrations are underway (the parade's still set for this Sunday), and the Red Sox are back on TV from Florida, and the days are getting longer, isn't it about time for ... another snowstorm?

Here we are, six weeks removed already from Groundhog Day, getting ready to turn down the thermostats and rake up the yards, when what comes along but this week's St. Paddy's snowstorm!

We really can't complain about this winter of twenty-o-four, for the weather has been, well, almost bearable. More than our fair share of single degree days, to be sure, and not too many "snow events"&emdash; at least so far.

So the wintry, snowy precip which fell Tuesday night and Wednesday is just nature's way of reminding us that we do, after all, live in the northern climates, and if March is here, can summer really be all that far away?

The white ground cover and the sloppy streets will be a bother for the while, but that stuff's sure to be gone soon, and it won't be long before the town will be ready for some outdoor events once again.

As for this week's storm, what did you expect- an outdoor barbecue on March 17? Let's be thankful that the sun's higher in the sky, and the snowmelt is sure to be swift and steady, and spring can't be more than, what, a couple months away?

Now if only we can find that snow shovel we put away a few weeks ago....

- E.F.