THE BEST THINGS ABOUT SPRING

This morning the sun woke up the Earth and whispered, "It is spring, the season of rebirth, time to wake up children. The days are warmer and longer now. Come children, come and join the spring."

I love the spring time of the year. I love all the seasons, each unique in their own way and each with its own special purpose in the scheme of nature, of life. Each are equally important but after a long, cold, often dark and dreary New England winter, spring seems like Heaven come to Earth. There are so many wonderful things about spring and the best things about spring…Oh where to begin.

By Ground Hog Day (February 2nd) I start thinking spring. I've got the seed catalogs out and I'm dreaming of warm sunny days with green grass and beautiful flowers, the umbrella shade of trees leafed out again. I know, however that spring is still in reality a couple months away, if not more but when it does arrive it burst on the scene in all its glory and the dreaming, that hope that always springs eternal gets me through the next few weeks. Winter has been long but earth needed its rest. I keep busy as I wait, planning my gardens and special spring outings, planting those little seeds, my starter plants and setting them on windowsills to begin their journey through the next three seasons. Between all this springtime planning, I go outside and shovel more snow and sand more walks and steps but spring will come, I know. As sure as winter follows the fall, so spring will follow winter. Soon I will be hiking and fishing, picnicking, strolling along the river's wind and along the mountain streams, relaxing by the ponds and lakes and enjoying my gardens again. I will be foraging for fiddleheads and dandelion, picking bouquets of pussywillows, enjoying the sweet fragrance of apple blossoms and Benjamin spice and witch hazel. My crocus, daffodils, narcissus and tulips will once again be in bloom and the songs of birds will fill the air.

By the middle of March I'm listening for the honking of the geese returning home again, watching for the robin and best of all the lovely ching-cha-ree of the red-winged blackbird, and when they arrive, it is spring again. Any day now the Spring Beauties or Fairy Spuds will be in bloom with their delicate white and pink blossoms on long slender stems, their tubers a delicious spring delicacy, sort of a cross between potato and the flavor of chestnut. I can hardly wait. This is one of the wonderful things about spring, all those fresh grown wild edibles that Mother Nature sends our way. I can hardly wait.

Speaking of delicacies, the best things in spring, ah yes, sweet maple. By late February some years, but usually the first part of March, the maple trees are tapped and then comes that sweet and wonderful maple syrup, sugar on snow, we still have lots of snow but once the maple trees bring forth their sugary sap you know it is spring, even if you are still knee deep and deeper in snow. Fresh, new maple syrup that is definitely one of my favorite things about spring, one of the best things.

Suddenly you can feel the pulse of life returning. It is the season of awakenings. The dawn seems brighter. The sky seems bluer. The air seems fresher. The earth seems happy to be alive. There is new birth, the baby animals, birds, ducklings, the grass is greening, trees are blossoming and leafing out and you can actually see the mountains of snow shrinking day by day as freshets from the melt race like silver lizards to the now open rivers and streams to begin their journey toward the sea. There is an excitement in springtime that doesn't seem to exist any other season. The Earth is alive and rejoicing and you can't help but rejoice along with it. It is the promise life will go on, eternal. This is one of the best things about spring, the promise of life where beneath the snow and rotting leaves everything seems dead and suddenly there is a miracle, a flower lifts its head; spring, it is a time of miracles and blessings and the promise of a harvest to come, fruitfulness, abundance, plenty with which to face another winter in the cycle of our lives. I love the spring.

The best things about spring, oh there are so many, where would I begin.
The warmth, the joy, birth, rebirth, and the renewal of life again, the promise life should go on; I no longer have to bundle up in layers of clothing to stay warm. The sidewalks are free of ice and safe to walk on again. The roads are no longer slick and dangerous to travel on. I don't have to worry about enough fuel to heat my home. I don't have to worry the water pipes may freeze. I can open my windows and doors and let all that fresh air inside clearing away the staleness of winter. I suddenly feel more energized. These are the best things about spring. I love the spring and as sure as winter follows the fall, so springtime follows the winter.

Annette Bromley