BRING IT ON

 Today there is a spring in my step again. The spring I am talking about may be only an analogy, as it pertains to this story, but the spring taking center stage here in the Northwood’s is not. I am talking about the season, when that “warming star” we all revolve around seems to overcome the cold of winter, and melts, not only the snow and the ice, but it warms the cockles of our hearts and the smiles on our faces as well. True, here in God’s country we had a weenie winter, as far as winters go, but it’s not only the cold we don’t need or want anymore. It’s also the darkness that envelops us for a good share of our waking hours in winter.

For me, it’s more of a new beginning happening, than just the rebirth of our earth. It’s my first time going into summer without her, and that tempers the joy that used to be there, no doubt. It’s my first summer with a new pup. Although a lot of work right now—I need this relationship in my life. It’s lonely living alone and responsibility breeds self-satisfaction even if it’s only caring for a dog. It’s been a reunion of old friends and old faces, back from their winter hiatus, at the coffee shop. It’s not a sudden epiphany on springtime I’m feeling here as I write. I’ve been here many times before and they have all been unique.

We heard the words “Arab Spring” last year in the Middle East, and it had nothing to do with the weather, but it did have a lot to do with a new beginning. How that will work out is yet to be seen. They, too, want to come out of their darkness and have a new beginning. Mother Nature seems to be more in charge of her version of springtime than we do. But then, mankind has never been a formidable foe for nature, except to unbalance it. Left alone, nature will repair that damage, but that would mean us disappearing. If we keep going the way we are—that just might come to pass.

But for now, let’s focus on the impending spring season, and what it has always meant to us. It means crocuses and daffodils, poking their heads out of the earth once more; green grass and bubbling brooks and ice-free lakes and ponds. It means there will be babies, of every species, filling in the holes in their ranks and ensuring the continuation of their kind. It means the smell of freshly plowed dirt as the farmers try, once again, to feed a hungry world; fish, thrashing in the shallows, spawning more fish; colorful birds, filling the air with song and building new homes to raise their young in; trees budding and sap running.

But for me today, it’s almost a melancholy mood while I cash in one more spring coupon out of life’s book. Today is a time to sit on the porch, let the sun soak in and reminisce of the times when we had so many dreams left unfulfilled, and our own babies to raise. Now, I can only think of the words from the good book, for they seem so relevant right now, “For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.” It puts it all into perspective, doesn’t it?