[2021-02-28] The promise of spring
Summer has long been my favourite season. I adore the sun and the heat, running outside without stopping to grab a coat or gloves, spending long days on a deck or porch in my bare feet, seeking reprieve from the heat in the cool shade of a tree, eating corn on the cob.
One day, every spring, a particularly warm day arrives and I say to myself, "Ah, the promise of summer." I sigh contentedly, knowing that in a few weeks, all the goodness that summer has to offer will be mine to enjoy.
Today, however, I smiled and said, "Ah, the promise of spring." The sun felt warm on my face when I went for a walk with Chris this morning. The snow was slushy underfoot. Birds were singing, heralding the change in seasons.
To me, the promise of spring means looking forward to warmer weather, lighter jackets and running shoes, longer days, children playing outside into the early evening, the return of birds, melting snow and ice, bare roads and sidewalks, the smell of dirt, early flowers, gardening preparations, opening windows to let the fresh air in, and tapping maple trees, collecting sap and boiling maple syrup.
This afternoon, Chris, Shane and I cleared snow off our deck. They shoveled snow, while I chipped away at ice, the less taxing of the two activities. It felt like we were giving spring a boost, removing the bulk of the snow so that the sun's rays could evaporate the remainder and dry the deck.
This is the first year that I feel so excited for spring. The winter of 2020-21 has been one of the hardest and longest for many of us because of COVID restrictions. When the cold chased us indoors, it robbed many of us of the chance to spend time face to face with friends and loved ones in a safe way. Masked, physically distanced walks with people outside my household from time to time this winter helped, but an enjoyable conversation would inevitably end when the walk concluded. Hanging around on the deck was not possible.
So the return of warm weather means more this year than ever. Being able to see more people in outdoor settings than we could during the cold winter will help many of us to hang on through continued restrictions until coronavirus vaccines are widely available.
In her fitting poem "The Promise of Spring" (below), British poet Edith Nesbit likens the first hints of the fair season to a whisper, half-heard, like the caress of love's lips in a dream. Spring tells her story in the murmur of boughs, the softening of skies, the sun on the house, and the green of daffodils. She will bring the singing of thrushes, the greening of fields, the return of daisies, and the whitening of hedges. Spring will take our hands, lead us away from the snow and the cold, from old pain and hard winter, which will be forgotten and forgiven.
Bring on spring.
The Promise of Spring
Edith Nesbit
JUST a whisper, half-heard,
But our heart knows the word;
Caresses that seem
Like love's lips in a dream;
Yet we know she is here,
The desirèd, the dear,
The love of the year!
In the murmur of boughs,
In the softening of skies,
In the sun on the house,
In the daffodil's green
(Half an inch, half-unseen
Mid the mournful brown mould
Where the rotten leaf lies)
Her story is told.
O Spring, darling Spring,
O sweet days of blue weather
The thrushes shall sing,
Fields shall grow green again,
Daisies be seen again,
Hedges grow white;
Then down the lane,
Grown leafy again,
Shall go lovers together—
Lovers who see again
Sunshine and showers,
Perfume and flowers,
Dewy dear hours,
Dream and delight.
Warm shall nests be again,
Winter's behind us;
Springtime shall find us,
Taking our hands,
Lead us away from the cold and the snow,
Into the green world where primroses grow.
Winter, hard winter, forgotten, forgiven;
All the old pain paid, to seventy times seven,
All the new glory a-glow.
Love, when Spring calls, will you still turn away?
Winter has wooed you in vain, and shall May?
Love, when Spring calls, will you go?
