Nothing clears the mind (and messes up the hair) like a ride in the back of a friend’s convertible. It was such a gorgeous spring day yesterday I couldn’t resist the invitation to “cruise” down the boulevard with three of my co-workers. We all needed to get away from our desks and clear our minds. It was the perfect antidote.
On the way back to work, my friend who was driving cranked up the radio and we hollered and laughed, enjoying the last few moments of our lunch hour.
Spring has a tendency to bring out the kid in all of us. There’s something about the rising temperatures after our confinement from the cold winter months that draws us outside and causes us to be a little giddy.
I’m not totally opposed to winter. I do like snow, the holidays, snuggling under a blanket and the frosty chill in the air. But when I feel the mercury starting to rise, see flowers poking through the ground and the trees starting to bud, I rejoice in the promise of warmer weather.
The other day, a pair of house finches checked out the light fixture on my front porch. It seems to be a popular place for them to make their nest. They’re also attracted to the wreath just outside my front door. The robins, however, seem to prefer the flower pots. As long as the neighborhood cats stay away, my porch becomes a nursery for baby birds every spring.
For weeks now, I’ve heard birds chattering joyfully, heralding the advent of spring. I get a little annoyed on Saturday mornings though when I’m trying to sleep late and the sparrows and starlings seem to be having an argument just outside my bedroom window.
I always feel sorry for the robins when they make their return on a warm day and then a cold snap comes along. When that happens, I’m sure they wonder if they took a wrong turn or didn’t look at the calendar correctly.
As soon as the spring shows its happy face, the gardener in me comes out. I love flowers and when I took over the yard work after my dad died, I discovered how therapeutic gardening can be.
I just finished proofreading an article (that will be in an upcoming issue of our sister magazine, GRIT ) about kitchen gardens. Now I want to sprinkle herbs and vegetable seeds in with my flowers, so I can have a functional as well as an aesthetic garden. That’s my hope anyway.
Spring is a season of hope. It reminds us that the winter in our hearts won’t last forever. It’s a promise of a new beginning and renewed possibilities. It is a season in which we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus, our Eternal Hope.
I hope I never stop appreciating a beautiful spring day and the uplifting feeling I get from observing the signs of the season.
How about you? Does spring bring out the child in you? What do you like to do when spring appears? Let me know.