Spring

Ahhh!! Spring! Green grass, colorful constellations of spectacular blossoms fill the air with refreshing, savory, smells. New life is all around, smothering our memories of the bleak, depressing dark of winter. Nearly everyone welcomes spring. For centuries, spring has inspired festivals, fun, and frolic. In about two weeks, we will celebrate Easter; but this year spring arrives first. For a few weeks, throughout the northern hemisphere, plentiful ways of spring’s pageant will continue to erupt among us.

Like spring, poets and sages also lift our spirits; some more so than others. I migrated this old saw, “In spring a young man’s fancy turns to love,” into “In spring an old man’s love turns to fancy.” Well, OK. Not as dreamy as the former. Maybe this will redeem my effort. From William Wordsworth: “Lines Written in Early Spring,”

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:—
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure…”

Emily Dickinson captures the spirit of Spring in her poem: ‘A Light Exists in Spring‘.

“A Light exists in Spring
Not present on the Year
At any other period –
When March is scarcely here

A Color stands abroad
On Solitary Fields
That Science cannot overtake
But Human Nature feels…“

According to the Old Farmers Almanac; this year “spring equinox occurs on Saturday; (technically, Saturday, March 20, at 5:37 A.M. EDT.) This event marks the astronomical first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.” Although the weather doesn’t always cooperate, tomorrow, March 20, springtime arrives anyway. As I write this, the weather looks to cooperate—well, in typical four seasons in March fashion–as described by Calvin and Hobbes.

From my childhood, I remember the Burma Shave signs sprinkled along U. S. highways. Each little sign, 100 feet from the previous one, along the highway, carried a single phrase; spaced for reading at the 55 mph speed limit. One cluster read; “Spring has sprung/Grass has riz/Where last year’s/careless drivers is.” Terrible grammatical usage, but it served the Burma Shave purpose! And amused the rest of us in a macabre sort of way.

Springtime rhymes, romantic, raucous, ridiculous, or whatever—give the world a new look, new, birth, new hope. God’s steadfastness is evident in springtime; The Bible is prolific with springtime splendor; “Let us try to know the Lord. He will come to us as surely as the day dawns, as surely as the spring rains fall upon the earth.” (Hosea 6:3) And this…. “Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.:”(Joel 2:23)

“The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. he parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.(Isaiah 35:1-3

Isaiah liked the Crocus line so much he repeated it. One might say he exulted in it! But forgive him. Springtime has just such a way of doing that for folks!! The COVID-19 Pandemic now seems to have met its match in successful vaccines; soon we will be able to shout for joy—together! Caution? Yes. Back to how we were? Not so much. But Easter is coming. New life arrives. And, the blessings of God are way too many to count, but abundant to enjoy!