Spring is here, and we have had glorious sunshine, warm sunshine too, enough
to warrant summer dresses and sandals, but we’ve had snow as well; we have had it
all this April. But snow apart, it has been pretty good weather, there is a
drought so the snow and rain has actually been welcome; spring always heralds
an invigorating urge to tidy up and organise your home and your life. For one
thing, the days are longer and warmer, the curtains and windows stay open longer
so all the mess that has accumulated over the long dark winter is now more visible,
and dustier. It is time to pack away those bulky winter garments and I suppose the
process of dragging things in and out of storage acts as a catalyst to general
spring cleaning. Things are moved about, dust is exposed, walls look drearier, in
need of a lick of paint and so forth.
It is so easy to get carried away with housekeeping and homemaking. It is
all for a good cause though, spring is a magical time; the sky is bluer, flowers
explode everywhere, cherry blossoms even start to trend on social media,
everyone seems totally enamoured by them, myself included. My favourite aspect
of spring is the start of the longer days, leading to long summer evenings, absolutely
magical. This combination once led me to feel with my entire being one
lunchtime at work that it is a great time to be alive. It was a powerful feeling
of genuine contentment and gratitude to nature for the gift of the sun. I haven’t
felt that satisfaction in a long time sadly, not just with the weather but with
life generally.
I do suppose it is possible to feel at one with the universe on cold, grey,
hazy autumn days if everything else is as it should be. Likewise, I know it is
possible to feel glum in the sun if the warm weather is the only thing that seems
to be going right. In fact, there is every danger of feeling totally dejected
having to observe everyone else seemingly grabbing life with both hands while
you seem stuck in a rot. But the difference between licking wounds in spring is
optimistically the hope of new beginnings and looking forward to a long eventful
summer of new promise.
