There’s a reason why Canadians don’t move to Hawaii enmasse: spring is a glorious, fresh kiss of life after a long winter. Without the howling bitterness of January (and even March this year), we wouldn’t get to appreciate how frigging amazing spring is.
Today has been our first real taste of warm weather. I walked today and it was gorgeous. I even got a bit of a sweat on. Lawns, and the sides of the roads, are getting soft and pulpy. Snow is melting and revealing broken sticks, tossed beer cans, and dog poop. Water is running away from the remaining snowbanks. And I even saw a motorcycle, I swear!
These moments could not be possible without winter. I don’t think I’d appreciate a fresh breeze that smells of mud without the sharp sting of winter for comparison. I mean, I love winter to some degree, but by April, even the most optimistic of us are getting low in vitamin D and need some sun on the skin, a breeze in the hair, and a chorus of bird chirps in the background.
It does still look a bit ugly out. Winter does that to the landscape. The grass is bleached into yellowness, mud seems to be everywhere (especially my car), and everything still has that barren look.
But there are signs. In the garden, I can see furled leaves where the rhubarb lives. Buds on the trees appear to be a bit more swollen, even though it’s early for them to erupt.
The horses are running around the paddock with their tails high. And a herd of robins is scrambling over the muddy lawn speckled with driveway rocks from many, many, many plows.
Spring is here. And it is amazing.
The Daily Hodgepodge 