Spring

"The air is like a butterfly
With frail blue wings.
The happy earth looks at the sky
And sings."
~Joyce Kilmer, Spring


I love days like today. The sun is shining...in the shade the temperature is a little cool for my taste, but in the sun it is perfect. I automatically become more optimistic about life and the "little" things that seemed to bother me yesterday are no longer on my radar. Because I'm smiling. And today is not the day to worry. Today is the day to enjoy.

It's Spring.

For today anyway.

What does Spring mean to you? What is the first mental picture you get when someone says "Spring is here?" Me, it's lame...but I see my house...lit up with rays of sunshine. The windows are open and a soft breeze is blowing the curtains back and forth. The house smells like pledge because we've just dusted all of the furniture and the wood floors are gleaming because they've gotten cleaned (not just swept) for the first time since the snow started to fall. I also get this ridiculous picture of a clothesline in my back yard....with big white sheets swaying in the breeze...the smell of clean laundry...the feel of clutter leaving my life. Spring clean. A new slate.

Many people say January 1 is your new slate. Your way to start the year on a different foot. Hey, I was there too. This blog is a product of that new start. However, for the next three months you can find yourself stuck in a rut...the snow melts but then immediately returns. The weather dips below freezing. The clouds hide the sun and force you indoors. It's hard to really make that new start a reality when you don't want to leave the confines of your bed.

But now, Spring! Daylights savings leaps you forward (okay, pushes) that first day with less sleep can feel like hell. But then you're here...the days are longer. When I get off work the sun is still shining on my way home. Rush hour immediately seems less of a pain... I roll my window down, turn the radio up, and smile. And if you look around you can swear everyone else is smiling too.

Spring is when all the patios in Denver open for business...friendly staff serving large, delicious, healthy salads (because in the Spring you WANT a salad...and no longer does the grease of winter appeal to you). And that ice cold beer with the sun beaming down is the most delicious beer you've ever had.

And you take a hike or a bike ride in the park. And you're laughing. And you're thinking, "Is this really my life?" because you swear this moment is from a book, carefully constructed, a beautiful picture that can only be that...a picture. Surely not reality. But it is. It's your life.

Because it's Spring. And the sun is shining. And it's time to make that new start...so take a step forward. The world is waiting.