Enjoying early spring

Spring doesn’t officially begin until March 20. However, I am convinced the calendar is wrong, as the season actually changed last week. The daffodils are bursting into bloom so fast I can almost see the petals unfurling before my eyes. The catkins of the pussy willow are already sporting halos of yellow. If the temperatures keep on being this warm the catkins and the early daffodils will soon be history. The tulips are struggling to catch up with the daffodils. I can almost hear them muttering, “I thought we had another six weeks before we were supposed to wake up.”
In addition to the cheerful blossoms, there is another unmistakable sign of spring. The loud cars have come out of hibernation. They remind me of oversized cats running helter-skelter as they streak from corner to corner as fast as they can before squealing to an almost stop. The motors roar and the tires scream at the unexpected freedom. People like me scowl at the racket and mutter about people not knowing how to drive.
There are other unmistakable signs that spring has arrived. Walk down any street in town and you will hear the sounds of hammers and saws as people shake off the lethargy of winter and begin fixing up their homes. Across the street from where I live, the half-sided house is sporting new windows upstairs. Who knows, maybe it will have siding all the way to the roofline by summer’s end.
Spring cleaning has also begun. I have finished a couple of the smaller rooms already. There is something about the warmer weather that compels us to sweep away the dregs of winter and let the sunshine in. Stuff that happily inhabited the cabinets all winter is suddenly seen as superfluous and is relegated to the trash or recycle bin. There is something freeing about tossing half-used bottles of flu remedies; especially when the expiration date is long past.
I’m not the only one who has already started spring cleaning. I have seen neighbors sweeping their porches and dusting off the outdoor furniture. Others are cleaning up their flowerbeds simply for an excuse to be outside enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. Still others work inside and anyone walking on the sidewalk in front of their houses can smell the aroma of cleaning products on the breeze.
It seems as if the weather has drawn everybody outdoors. Mothers are pushing babies in strollers. Fathers pull toddlers in wagons. Kids wobble on unfamiliar bicycles. The sidewalks are filled with people out enjoying the sunshine. They are not just walking, they are chatting. So what if the language is coarser than what I think it should be in public. At least they are communicating and interacting with people instead of being huddled alone with their electronic doodads.
This spring equinox has worked its magic on all of us. It hasn’t been a particularly rough winter but that doesn’t lessen the effect of the change in seasons. Supposedly the length of the day is equal to the length of the night at the equinox.
But because sunrise is measured from when the first rays of the sun break the horizon and sunset is measured from when the last rays disappear, the days aren’t perfectly equal.
On March 20 the sun is scheduled to rise at 7:47 a.m. and set at 7:58 p.m., which results in 12 hours and 11 minutes of daylight.
Yet, knowing the scientific explanation for the equinox does little to explain just what it is that fills us with energy and compels us to leave our snug homes and go out into the fresh air. Is it the cooing of doves on the edges of consciousness as we drift awake? Is it that we open our eyes to sunlight instead of being awakened by a jarring alarm clock in the dark of the night? Is it the ability to wander outside in bare feet without freezing our toes? Is it the welcome dash of color as the spring flowers reappear?
Whatever it is, spring is so much more than a date on a calendar. It is a time of reawakening for all of us. I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am.[[In-content Ad]]