This past weekend was triumphantly gorgeous! It was the kind of weekend where you open the windows; let the light in and air out the stuffiness of the winter months. It was a weekend where you sit on the patio at the coffee shop as you catch up with your friend. The kind of weekend where you wear flip flops as you prep the yard for warmer weather.
When I was a child, I loved the long glorious days of summer and the holiday breaks over winter. The older I get though, I have learned that those polarizations are no longer for me; I prefer the balance of Spring & Fall. While I would be tempted to say that I prefer Fall with the re-emergence of warm lattes, cozy scarves and the NFL; I have to say sometimes, even though the leaves are beautiful as they are changing, I can't help but feel a little uneasy knowing that we are about to embark into the colder winter months, the financial stress of the holidays, and the gut wrenching feeling that the seasonal depression will no doubt take hold. For those reasons I would currently have to say that I am crushing on Spring.
Glorious Spring! Though my eyes are itchy, I am craving everything about this season. The days are longer, the buds are about to bloom in full force, driving with the windows down, new fun music to listen to, and the college students are on the cusp of leaving campus! I'm ready to turn in my lattes for fresh water and my scarves for flip flops! I'm ready for the television seasons to come to an end, people to come out of hibernation, and for sunny weekends where I'm able to assist my parent's in the grooming of their yard!
The older I get I have also learned how much I enjoy yard work. Maybe I like it so much because it's voluntary; it's not my yard, I don't have to do it every weekend, and I don't have to do anything that I don't want to do (like mow, although who doesn't love the smell of freshly cut lawn?). For some reason unknown to me, in a world where I am impatient at any task that cannot quickly be done, I find so much tranquility in gardening! It's like everything just slows down, and even after the day is done I rest so much better after a good day's work. I feel like my soul is as fresh as if I'd went to India and prayed and meditated in an Ashram for 3 months! Goodbye seasonal depression!
Yesterday, we trimmed back plants that we had not gotten to at the end of fall. And my 3 favorite flower/plants had been completely buried in rocks from a fence incident last Fall and I just sat on the cool pavement in the shade and unburied them hoping that they may have survived, and while they may not be as beautiful as they have been in year's past, there was still green (which means there is still hope); I'm just calling this their "rebuilding" year in honor of last week's NFL draft. Stay tuned.
Recently one of my favorite singers (& bloggers for that matter) shared something she had found elsewhere:
"Whether we are gardeners, or farmers, or city dwellers, there is a planting to be done in the spring. This is a time to take the plans you made while waiting for warmer weather -- those ideas about new projects, new endeavors, new steps toward a realized dream -- and begin to put them into action. It is a time to start doing.
The world is an example. It is showing you how to start. You need only open your awareness to its unfolding, and you will see how you might begin to manifest the changes of spring in your own life."
Love it! Here's to Spring, and plans that had to be shaped in the darkness of the winter months! Here's to watching them unfurl and bloom in the sunlight!
