More Than Ready For The Rituals Of Spring

 

By Dottie Evans

At 8 pm Thursday, March 20, spring finally arrived.

This year more than others in recent memory, we can truly say we are ready. We desperately need soft breezes, open windows, and the healing warmth of sunshine.

Through five months of cold and snow we have kept the faith, trusting in the vernal equinox to bring about that critical shift in the alignment of earth to sun. For those of us living in northern hemispheres, the signs and sounds of spring were a long time coming.

Even though in New England we are still a couple of weeks away from yellow forsythia, cheery daffodils, or bright green grass, we already have birdsongs at 6 am and a pair of bluebirds checking out the backyard nest box.

For all creatures, it is time to patrol the perimeter, defend the territory, and find a mate.

The cat has lost interest in his warm pillow by the hearth. Suddenly he wants to be outside day and night. He has places to go, things to do, other cats to deal with.

The dog is just plain exuberant. She waits hopefully by the kitchen door, ready to burst outside like a shot and race three times around the yard, her ears flying in the wind. Reluctantly she comes back inside, panting and muddy.

It is still too soon for her to dig holes in the iris bed searching for moles on the move. Huge piles of snow and ice may have melted in three warm days, but the ground is still frozen.

We humans have our own spring rituals and fussing with the indoor plants is one of them. Time to repot the wan-looking philodendron that suddenly cannot get enough water. Time to move those African violets away from south-facing windows, where they are getting blasted by the lengthening days and the strengthening sun.

We begin to think about cleaning out the garage and finding the hoses, maybe putting up a few garden fences before the dog begins her excavations. Time to start some tomato seedlings.

Optimists among us might even be raising storm windows and pulling down screens, all the better to hear the raucous cries of red-wing blackbirds and grackles moving through the yard. The deafening chorus of spring peepers will begin any day now.

 Sneezing is another spring sound. Desperately grabbing for the Kleenex, we suffer continued, allergic paroxysms in response to the budding of red maples and red cedars. God Bless Us!

Mind you, we are not complaining about itchy noses and frantic dogs and cats that refuse to stay in the house. Growth, change, irritation, sound, movement, and the beauty of life renewing itself, this is what spring is all about.

The sap is rising and the juices are flowing. If this is spring, bring it on!