Spring Awakening...

i don't know why spring is so amazing. but i do know that it is. i also know that every sentence i type after this one is highly unlikely to be original. but i want to type them anyway.

during the winter months, i despise being outside. my bones shiver at the merest hint of a draft let indoors. if i do spend time out of doors, my lungs are tortured; the menacing cold air greedily leaps into my lungs, constricting them, burning them, pounding on my ribcage with steely fingers, leaving a trail of crystallized, foggy evidence as it escapes. my fingers and toes deceive me; going numb so passively only to burst into flames at the slightest touch of water indoors. each step outside requires effort; navigating around piles of snow and slabs of ice. even our vehicles protest the conditions...

but then comes spring. without warning; always without warning. one day is all it takes. one moment. once she has decided to return; she will. spring comes to us gently; often on a Chinook. there may be a snow shower or two after her arrival, but she merely smiles and shakes her head at Jack Frost. she's already incubating the earth in her bosom; she is strong and will prevail. her arrival is heralded by the birds first; you see something flitting in the corner of your eye; was that telephone line always so crowded? and then it's as if someone has removed cotton balls from your ears; chirping, singing, and even a squawk or two have replaced the winter soundtrack of muffled breezes. i've heard it said that the Robin is the official bearer of spring; i believe it's so. i imagine the Robin so loved her that she stretched out her finger and lightly traced his breast; ever-warming his heart to give it that brilliant red hue.

in spring nature beckons us to connect with her. the trees are awakened; their veins tingling with life. place your hand on a tree trunk and feel the movement within. the soft earth longs to be tread upon by bare feet once again. the mud squishing through your toes; the growing grass offering itself as a handy towel. the sound of water running is rampant; floods may come, but the earth's capacity to drink it in is never-ending. and should we be surprised? who isn't dehydrated after a long winter's nap?

the sun is warmer. the sun is closer. the sun says hello.

even the wind is in a better mood; blowing a satiated warm breath upon us once again.

annually i welcome spring; annually spring welcomes me.

Genesis 1: 11 ‑ 12

Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed‑bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.