Spring?

I'm afraid to say the word.  It may not have been the harshest of winters here, but it HAS seemed to be everlasting.  (Of course to me, winter ALWAYS seems to be everlasting.)  Over this past Saturday and Sunday, I finally felt like it was spring.  The sun was out, the birds were singing, buds were blooming on the trees. A few shoots actually came up through the ground and though I may not have flowers yet, there is hope for daffodils and tulips.  I even had the windows open in the house.  Breezes blowing through the house again!  Can I get a hallelujah? 

Is it just me or do you feel more alive when spring returns?  There is nothing like the warm sun hitting your skin to make you feel...GOOD.  I don't claim to know what it is, but it is just a feeling of bliss and happiness when those rays hit my skin and life just feels better.  It's as if you can feel the vitamin D penetrating every cell.  If cells could smile, mine would have big happy faces.

There were lots of things I COULD have done over this weekend.  There were things I DID do.  I did do some housework (that dusting that I put off time and time again).  I did volunteer at the thrift shop (and came home with a dress that just might be perfect for Easter.)  I did make spaghetti sauce for dinner on Saturday.  (And drank too much wine with it...yes, I broke my Lenten promise AGAIN.  I learned my lesson though when I woke up in the middle of the night not feeling very well.  Really not feeling very well.  Was a sign from God, warning me that I was not following my pledge or was it merely my body saying that I shouldn't have imbibed quite so much and maybe it was time for me to learn my lesson?  Either answer is right.)  I did get outside to do some exercise in the form of a couple of walks.  (How much nicer it is to walk outside than to be indoors.  No offense to Leslie Sansone and her indoor walk videos. I've been doing them for years and it's a great program.  However, nothing beats a good walk outside!)  A quick lesson (that I SHOULD have learned, but...), ALWAYS wear socks when walking.  Doesn't matter how broken in those sneakers are.  Wear socks!  Your feet will thank you.  (Mine are not...the blisters that have formed are really not pretty. But when IS a blister pretty?)

But what really told me it was spring this weekend was seeing the kids on the block outside playing.  Specifically, this weekend was all about riding the bikes up and down the block.  I've lived on this street for most of my life and there have ALWAYS been kids running, playing and riding bikes.  It is truly the circle of life.  I can remember doing it.  (I'm pretty sure that my yellow five speed bike still resides somewhere in my parents' garage.)  My younger brother did it.  Before I was a parent, I saw neighbors with their kids doing it.  And as a parent, I TRIED with my son.  He just wasn't interested.  But it continues on, as one of the youngest on the street went up and down the block with her mom and/or dad behind her; trying to get her to go on her own.  There was success, even if it was brief.

The block was alive with life.  Plant life and kid life...It was all new and fresh.  How could I not feel great?  Warm sun and the happy shrieks of kids as they rode and ran up and down the block.   No matter how stressful life can be; life is GOOD on sunny spring days.

Wherever you might be, take advantage of the spring weather!  (Whenever it might appear.)  Take a break.  Breath in the air.  Feel the sun.  Look at the new life that popping up all around us.  Let yourself enjoy it all.  Life IS good.