Ah...Spring

I've been waiting for this moment for what has felt like an eternity.

Finally, today, I found myself laying on my back outside while the little girls ran around singing, dancing, playing fairies and giggling.

I kicked off my shoes, rolled up my shirt baring my white as a ghost mid section, slid off my sunglasses and closed my eyes.  It was Heaven.  I could feel the Vitamin D restoring my spirit and rejuvenating my soul. 

You think I'm being melodramatic, but the truth is that it's been a long, cold winter with a less than climactic start to spring.  Rain mixed with snow complimented by on-again off-again temperatures in the thirties, magnified by the lack of sun, has done a number on my being.

While the little ones were talking about the finer points of Silver Mist's winter wonderland powers and Tinker Bell's Pixie Hollow, I heard my daughter's friend say, "Kate...look at your mom.  I think she's taking a nap." 

With a big smile on my eyes-closed face, I kept listening.

"Look at her hands, they've got lots of veins in them, " Kate observed.  "That's because she's old."

And then, I started laughing on the inside.  My birthday is in a week and a half.  I'll turn 38.  I've got veiny hands and wrinkles around my eyes.  Stretch marks adorn parts of my belly.  And I've got more gray hair than anyone will every know. 

But on a day like today when the temperature is 67 degrees, the sun is bright, the sky is blue, and the air is ripe with life...I say, thank God for spring.  Thank God for me...all soon-to-be 38 years of me who just ran a half marathon last weekend and wasn't too worse for the wear.

I've been waiting for you spring, birth season of mine...thank you for making your grand entrance today.  I really needed it.

The Start of Something Good

I always know that spring is right around the corner when I have to remind the kids to dump their shoes out before coming in the house. 

Invariably, their shoes are filled with sand, their shirts are full of dirt/mud, their cheeks are rosy and their energy level is zapped.  The windows are wide open.  There's something getting ready to be grilled.  We're pulling back out the cushions for the patio set.  We're rethinking the garden.  And, it gets much harder to say, "lights out at 8pm."  Oh, and we don't give a shit about the state of the house because all we want to do is to be outside.

I have this theory that your body and soul are most alive in the season that you were born in. 

I was born in the spring time...May 6th to be exact.  And so, the tiny buds, the little bits of green making their way out of the ground, the fresh air, the sweet smells, the birds, and the dew all say to me, happy birthday...you're alive.

Welcome Spring...we've been waiting for you and you never disappoint.