New Beginning
Spring
is almost here. I could smell it in the air a few days ago even if the
actual date is still a week or so away. The snow was almost all gone
except for the piles shoved into the corners of parking lots of malls
and such over the last few months. I was enjoying one of the wonders
of spring: stepping out the door in shoes for the first time after
months of heavy boots. That makes me so appreciative of the new season,
just like everyone else, I’m sure.
But like everything else in life, not everything goes according to
plan. A couple of days ago my corner of the world was blasted with a
miserable winter storm that blanketed everything in a couple of feet of
fresh snow. Luckily, unlike an OCDer I know who was sure winter was
gone, I had not put my winter boots away! Nor my shovel! In case. After
all, experience has taught me that winter can be can quite bitchy on its way
out, and that it’s best to be prepared to face it head on.
Now spring won’t appear quite as fast as I had hoped just a few days
ago, but all is not lost, because as we all know the longer the wait the
sweeter the reward. The snow will melt as it always does and spring
will warm up the earth exposing the filth mankind manages to leave
behind in the cold months.
With the melting snow, litter appears in the streets and on the lawns. I
was noticing on my daily walk before the storm just how much of it
there is, from newsprint blowing in the wind, to empty cans of soda, to
miscellaneous bags, to mitts without their mates and scarves people hang
on fences so owners can see them and hopefully retrieve them. The last
two is something I don’t understand. It seems to me that if you lost a
mitt you would notice that one of your hands is getting cold. No matter
your age. And how can a scarf just blow away?
But not to worry, streets will be cleaned and lawns raked as soon as
the sun is once again warm enough, and we will all feel the renewal of a
new season, a new beginning. It makes me wonder how people who live in
climates where the weather is essentially the same all year long can
truly appreciate nature. The lucky bastards!!
