“I see spring as an exciting time; a time to start over, to take stock of yourself and your life and to take action on any changes you feel need to be made.”

By Barbara Killmeyer

Let’s see – we’ve been through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine’s Day , and Easter so I can now legitimately say I have Spring Fever.  I was looking out my window at my backyard and the leftover remnants of winter.  As I turned back to my computer, some movement caught my eye and changed my whole outlook for the day.

The clay birdhouse that hangs from one of the stronger branches of the large tree has been home to bird families for close to fifteen years and now it was active again.  Each fall it gets cleaned out so it will be fresh and ready for a new family in the spring.  Now this year’s occupants were preparing their nest. As I watched, birds flitted in and out carrying grass, lint, and other building materials, some bright and shining like pieces of discarded tinsel and ribbons. These were being recycled into a cozy nest. What a mental boost this was!

Have you noticed the increase in the number of seed catalogs that appear in your mailbox? Paging through these is like a preview of spring – full of bright, new colors and pictures so vivid you can almost smell the roses. It doesn’t matter if you have a few pots or if you have a full garden.  The catalogs provide incentive for daydreaming of pleasant days. Some prefer to start their own plants with seeds, but I don’t have the patience for seeds.  I like to get the plants already started by a nursery. Even then, there’s a pretty good chance they won’t survive. Instead of a “green thumb” I think I have a “brown thumb” because that’s how the poor plants end up under my care.  I either neglect them out of fear of over-watering, or I kill them with kindness. But I think I deserve an “A” for effort because I keep trying.

I have a very small plot so each year I carefully plan what I’ll plant, then when I go to a nursery I see so many wonderful things that the plan goes out the window and I buy too much. The last several years I’ve been planting herbs, but I think this year I’ll plant salad ingredients. At least that’s the plan now. Who knows what it’ll be by the time I go plant shopping.

Suddenly the clothes hanging in my closet that looked so warm and cozy in October are starting to look hot and heavy.  Little by little, lighter and brighter thing have begun to appear such as a pretty light weight blouse or a colorful scarf. As my clothes lighten, so does my mood.

Spring is a time of renewal, of new growth. It’s a time to reflect on where you have been, where you are now, and where you want to go.  Nature uses this season to begin again, to erase the stark bleakness of winter with the promise of hope and a new purpose. We should do the same.  If I had my way, instead of celebrating the New Year in January, we would return to doing it in April.  (See this month’s Trivia Connection.)

I see spring as an exciting time; a time to start over, to take stock of yourself and your life and to take action on any changes you feel need to be made.

Let’s take an example from those birds building their nest.  They know that spring is coming and they’re going to be ready for it.

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