“First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.” ~ Chance the Gardener, Peter Sellers, Being There
I noticed it yesterday. It was faint, but it was definitely there. It was fleeting, as it was gone today. But I have hope. It will be back. The official date for its arrival is March 20th but just as a newborn seldom comes into the world on their scheduled due date and often teases the anxious expectant parents with false labor, so it is with Spring. It’ll be here when it’s good and ready and no sooner, but will usually tease us with brief moments of coming attractions. And so it was with yesterday. Spring was in the air.
I had been, appropriately, doing spring cleaning although it wasn’t quite warm enough to have my windows opened. But when I went outside to shake out my very full dust rag, there was this very subtle hint of Spring. I turned my face into the slight breeze so as not to get a face full of dust when I shook out the cloth. The air had a faint scent of fresh grass and I was instantly taken back to my track & field days some 35+ years ago. And just as fast I thought of my older son. He had run track too and was a star pole-vaulter as well. He and I have talked about how the lovely Autumn scents remind us of our cross country days and now I wondered whether he was outside in Rochester, breathing in the fresh air and thinking of track. And if he was, I imagined him, just as fast, thinking of me thinking of him because he knows I would be. I could take that even further but it may get confusing. But then I realized we’re talking about Rochester, NY, located way up north on the banks of Lake Ontario. It is unlikely that Spring – or any hint of it – would be making its way up there anytime soon.
Now, we know that there are 4 seasons everywhere around the globe. It’s just that different regions may have different names for them. My son is always upbeat and never negative. But in listening to him talk about Rochester, which is where he’s been living for 1 ½ years, I get the feeling that the 4 seasons up there go something like this: cold, snow, bleak and summer. Many of these seasons overlap and summer is in the month of July. So I believe that right now it is bleak up there, which is the word he has used to describe it in the past – in a matter-of-fact sort of manner, not in a negative way -- although the word itself paints a very dreary picture. Either way, I did shoot him an email to tell him that it is track season here in Connecticut and that I was thinking of him!
I have seen other signs of spring recently. Robins looking for worms in my back yard for one, and there have been more birds in the early morning waking me up. The past few days I’ve seen a few bugs outside flying around. I don’t know what kind of bugs but I haven’t seen bugs outside since September. For the past few weeks I’ve heard that familiar honking in the air as the geese have been returning. And finally, the ice on the lake is disappearing and I’ve just heard that the UCONN crew teams will be practicing starting next week. They are putting their dock in on Wednesday the 17th and will begin their rowing on Thursday.
I gotta say, I do like winter and I’m not “sick” of it as some people might be, but I also like the next season. Every season I’m in is the best season to be in at the time – but I do like when they change too. It’s kind of like; say you’re at a fancy restaurant: they put a plate of something in front of you and it looks good and tastes great and you “oouu” and “ahh” over the presentation of it all as you eat it up. Then, not quite finished, but they take that plate away and present you with another one. You liked the first, but you like this one too and you never quite get the chance to fully enjoy them all and then they’re gone. But others keep coming in their place so that’s ok. Each one different but equally as delicious. And so it is with the seasons.
I could go on and on about what I like about this winter season – as it slowly slips away. The frigid air as it stings your nostrils and freezes the hairs inside your nose; the quietness, stillness and peacefulness you feel while standing in the woods with the snow falling all around; the beauty of the snow on the leaves on the ground in the woods – looking like sugar on a bowl of cornflakes; the snow sticking on the trees and the ice hanging from the branches; the silhouette of the bare trees against the sky and finally; looking out the window on a clear night when “the moon on the breast of the new fallen snow,” gives “a luster of mid-day to objects below.” But as I gaze outside now and see about a dozen robins pulling worms out of the ground in my front yard – and although I’ve not quite had my fill of it -- I’ll say goodbye to winter with no regrets. I know it will be back on December 21st, if not sooner. Next up: Spring!
I noticed it yesterday. It was faint, but it was definitely there. It was fleeting, as it was gone today. But I have hope. It will be back. The official date for its arrival is March 20th but just as a newborn seldom comes into the world on their scheduled due date and often teases the anxious expectant parents with false labor, so it is with Spring. It’ll be here when it’s good and ready and no sooner, but will usually tease us with brief moments of coming attractions. And so it was with yesterday. Spring was in the air.
I had been, appropriately, doing spring cleaning although it wasn’t quite warm enough to have my windows opened. But when I went outside to shake out my very full dust rag, there was this very subtle hint of Spring. I turned my face into the slight breeze so as not to get a face full of dust when I shook out the cloth. The air had a faint scent of fresh grass and I was instantly taken back to my track & field days some 35+ years ago. And just as fast I thought of my older son. He had run track too and was a star pole-vaulter as well. He and I have talked about how the lovely Autumn scents remind us of our cross country days and now I wondered whether he was outside in Rochester, breathing in the fresh air and thinking of track. And if he was, I imagined him, just as fast, thinking of me thinking of him because he knows I would be. I could take that even further but it may get confusing. But then I realized we’re talking about Rochester, NY, located way up north on the banks of Lake Ontario. It is unlikely that Spring – or any hint of it – would be making its way up there anytime soon.
Now, we know that there are 4 seasons everywhere around the globe. It’s just that different regions may have different names for them. My son is always upbeat and never negative. But in listening to him talk about Rochester, which is where he’s been living for 1 ½ years, I get the feeling that the 4 seasons up there go something like this: cold, snow, bleak and summer. Many of these seasons overlap and summer is in the month of July. So I believe that right now it is bleak up there, which is the word he has used to describe it in the past – in a matter-of-fact sort of manner, not in a negative way -- although the word itself paints a very dreary picture. Either way, I did shoot him an email to tell him that it is track season here in Connecticut and that I was thinking of him!
I have seen other signs of spring recently. Robins looking for worms in my back yard for one, and there have been more birds in the early morning waking me up. The past few days I’ve seen a few bugs outside flying around. I don’t know what kind of bugs but I haven’t seen bugs outside since September. For the past few weeks I’ve heard that familiar honking in the air as the geese have been returning. And finally, the ice on the lake is disappearing and I’ve just heard that the UCONN crew teams will be practicing starting next week. They are putting their dock in on Wednesday the 17th and will begin their rowing on Thursday.
I gotta say, I do like winter and I’m not “sick” of it as some people might be, but I also like the next season. Every season I’m in is the best season to be in at the time – but I do like when they change too. It’s kind of like; say you’re at a fancy restaurant: they put a plate of something in front of you and it looks good and tastes great and you “oouu” and “ahh” over the presentation of it all as you eat it up. Then, not quite finished, but they take that plate away and present you with another one. You liked the first, but you like this one too and you never quite get the chance to fully enjoy them all and then they’re gone. But others keep coming in their place so that’s ok. Each one different but equally as delicious. And so it is with the seasons.
I could go on and on about what I like about this winter season – as it slowly slips away. The frigid air as it stings your nostrils and freezes the hairs inside your nose; the quietness, stillness and peacefulness you feel while standing in the woods with the snow falling all around; the beauty of the snow on the leaves on the ground in the woods – looking like sugar on a bowl of cornflakes; the snow sticking on the trees and the ice hanging from the branches; the silhouette of the bare trees against the sky and finally; looking out the window on a clear night when “the moon on the breast of the new fallen snow,” gives “a luster of mid-day to objects below.” But as I gaze outside now and see about a dozen robins pulling worms out of the ground in my front yard – and although I’ve not quite had my fill of it -- I’ll say goodbye to winter with no regrets. I know it will be back on December 21st, if not sooner. Next up: Spring!
Hi Shaz,
ReplyDeleteI read your blog and wanted to say it is interesting how a certain smell can conjure up memories. You say that spring reminds you running and track ~ it reminds me of baseball. And just as I'm sure fall reminds you of cross-country running, it reminds me of soccer. Same smell, just different sports.
Teri
Hey Ter --- thanks for the comment. Yeah -- well, you used to keep the score for baseball, right? And -- ok, forgive me now, my memory --- did you score soccer too or Cheerleader for soccer? Obviously I remember you were the lead cheerleader for basketball - but there werr cheerleaders for soccer too, right? Anyway -- nothing like flashing back 35 years, huh?!!
ReplyDeletesheri
Late to the party here, as usual. ;0)
ReplyDeleteSmell is an interesting topic. The other day I was in my home office, the door pushed almost closed to keep in the heat. My office is downstairs, Gary's is upstairs ... and it's always colder downstairs, so I have a little heater in my office. And his office is always hotter, so he often cracks his window open a bit.
Anyway, I opened my office door and stepped into the hallway and my nostrils were immediately assailed with the smell of what I can only describe as "fresh air". Gary was in the kitchen, making our afternoon espresso. I mentioned the "fresh air" smell, so he came out into the hallway and said he couldn't smell it at all. He has no idea what that "fresh air" smells like at all. I asked him if he had his office window open, and he did, which explains where the smell was coming from.
That leads me to a similar topic about the smell of evergreen forests. When we go on hikes and the smell of the pine trees is so deliciously overwhelming, again Gary can't smell it. He says it's from all those years (almost 20) living in Tahoe in the middle of all those pines ... the nose soon tunes it all out. What a shame!
Anyway, Spring is definitely arriving here too. Lots of birds on our feeder and in the yard, some of them are not winter natives. Trees and bushes starting to bud out. And, of course, the famous Ellensburg wind. ;0)
Bon -- I didn't know there was a "famous Ellensburg wind." Bet it's nice to be back home, huh? I definately need to visit and do some hiking (and smelling of fresh pine filled air) Too bad Gary can't smell it. My sense of smaell has really diminished but I still smell Spring!! Oh -- the peepers started last week! You have peepers in Ellensburg, right?
ReplyDeletePeepers! I love the peepers! We have barking frogs.
ReplyDeleteHolly
Holly -- Thanks for commenting!!!! Barking frogs -- how very cool! Didn't know there was such a thing!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Ellensburg is famous for its wind ... maybe only famous here in WA, but that counts, right?
ReplyDeleteYou know how Chicago is called "The Windy City", well, they should call Eburg "The Windy Town". ;0)
Nah, we don't have peepers. It's an "east of the Mississippi" kind of frog.
BTW, after saying that Spring was definitely here, we got an inch or two of snow yesterday. Some pretty massive storm apparently ... very windy over along the WA coast and Puget Sound (winds gusting over 60mph and one place got an 87mph gust!)and lots of snow got dumped on the mountains (that's a good thing though). Anyone interested in Pacific Northwest weather should read Cliff Mass' blog (http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/). Cliff is a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington. Anyway, his blog is quite interesting to me, but probably only because I *live* in the Pacific Northwest. ;0)