This year, Eliot is right about our weather in MN. I find spring in general particularly cruel since I can no longer ski, but the roads are still too gritty/icy for me to ride my bike safely. This spring is taking its sweet time to unfurl and, at least here in this northern 'burb, the birds have not yet heralded its arrival. It's a silent spring, but the squirrels are enjoying the errant bird seed, and doing what squirrels do this time of year, which is make more squirrels.
It's a hard time for the winter-lover's mind, especially for those of us who endeavor to live in the moment. I try to find things to like about this in-between season, but I can't conjure much. In a way, spring is the bookend to fall, and since I adore that season, I tried to convince myself that I could enjoy the same things about this season. Unfortunately, my mind is not easily distracted with such sleight of hand. The average temperature is about the only thing that fall and spring have in common. Fall is crisp, spring is damp. Think of those two words: crisp/damp. Which one is more appealing? And the sun, when filtered through changing leaves, or even dancing around dead leaves blowing on the ground, seems somehow more like a warm glow, as opposed to the rays of the spring sun, which blaze down in blinding white oppression.
Maybe it's a failure of my attempt at living in the moment. No matter how hard I try to enjoy the cool air and appreciate the lack of insects, I can't shake the realization that winter is going away and the days are getting longer. Summer is inevitable. And with the long days comes the end of cozy tea-fueled nesting, reading, creating, and dreaming. These are things best done in the dark months. The summer sun invites us outdoors, which is where we should be, tending to other living, thriving things.
Everything has its season. Be here now.
