I haven’t done one of these in a while… As many of you know, I’ve been a little busy lately… But spring in the Granite State is my favorite time of the year.
Just as dawn overcomes the dead of night, so does new life spring forward from the dead of winter. As the weather warms and the days grow longer, the senses heighten, hope and possibility grow stronger, and new life springs forward once more.
On this day, March 16th, 2024 – a freaking Saturday – My dear, enthusiastic Little Miss Alice decided we needed to get up a little before 5:00 a.m. I was not impressed. Accepting that every detail of my life and my well-established morning routine are no longer things I am in control of, I got up and hit go on the coffee pot I gave Harriet and Opal their morning serving of albacore tuna, attended to the by-then urgent biological need that greets all living creatures first thing in the morning when they first get out of bed, circled back to fill the thermos, and scooped up my little love bundle of canine Joy (bitching at me that I was taking too long from the moment I stepped out of bed) and headed for the front yard.
We are making progress on the housebreaking thing, and despite my lack of enthusiasm for being outside in 34° temperatures, I lavished her with praise while she tended to her own biological urgencies. She dragged me back to the front porch, and we sat down together so I could tend to the matter of mainlining my iron black coffee over a cigarette I’m technically not allowed to be smoking (don’t judge me… it’s the only sin I have left, and I’m not giving it up), and we started discussing plans for the day.
When the coffee was finished and the plans were more or less established, I took Alice back out into the yard one more time in case she had a little more fertilizer to offer the lawn. The sun was making its daily appearance behind my house, which faces east. It was by no means a stunning sunrise, but it struck me that, despite the first day of spring not coming for three more days, it was a humbling reminder of just how magnificent nature truly is. I could hear the birds starting to wake up, there were not yet any cars going by, there were no people walking their dogs, and it was completely quiet and still. It was tempting to envy all the people who were still cozy and warm in their beds, but the longer I took in the smell of the air,… The taste of it… And the musty aroma wafting all around Alice and me, it occurred to me that it was the rest of the world that should be envious of Alice and me as we stood there and took it all in.
In that moment, my grandmother whispered in my ear that old saying that has been around for Generations on the matter of when to change your clocks that says “Spring forward, Fall back.” I smiled a little, remembering fondly how much she loved the Spring. She used to say that Spring was the time of year God did His best work and that – more than at any other time of year – it was Spring that was the most worthy of reflection, reverence, and respect for the cycles of life. It occurred to me, looking down at the new life tugging on my pants leg and telling me to snap out of it because she was hungry and wanted to go back inside, That season changes are more than just practical matters such as raking dead Leaves, turning over the soil to plant your seeds, hunkering down for summer storms or winter blizzards. Season changes are also about Cycles of life and death and rebirth and these things bring with them the never-ending possibilities and opportunities for hope in better things whenever and wherever you have it in you to pursue them.
Spring, I sincerely believe, truly is the legitimate “Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”
