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Reflections May 2012

Life Is for Living

Spring

By Neil Wyrick

The red of a rose, the yellow of a daffodil, a purple pansy. I love to see this artistry of God mingle color and shape, a reworking of the landscape from last year.

If March is a roar then April is a yawn not withstanding a wet one. Not that there isn't vigor in all the rising growth. It is just that the air is so soft after the hard, cold, winter months and relaxing comes so easily. Indeed, I remember all those days in college when on the sloping hill behind our dormitory we would lie facing the warmth of the spring sun and think of studying while doing little of it.

Early spring really can't make up its mind. Walk from the sun into the shade and the shadows are cool enough to remind you that not that long ago you were still encased in sweaters and coats.

I have not had to share this greening time with leftover slush for quite a while, Miami-based as I am, but I remember my childhood days and how areas that got little sun held on to winter long after spring flowers had begun to bloom. Even had some spring snow fights when the temperature was already hovering in the 60s or higher. Actually, the next day it might indeed have gotten cold enough to have a final winter hiccup.

I watched a snail today so content with his snail's pace, and thought how he, in a sense, is a symbol for this time of year.

Spring gives a rebirth to a belief in miracles. All that brown turning bright green and all of the colors of the rainbow bursting forth from the ground. The red of a rose, the yellow of a daffodil, a purple pansy. I love to see this artistry of God mingle color and shape, a reworking of the landscape from last year. That is what spring sets in motion, the originality of spreading growth.

And what the planting of seeds can do to one's spirit -- all that hope in a future harvest.

I wonder, are there less speeding tickets given out in May? Does this mellowing month affect even this?

Anyone who does not walk through more than one garden in the spring is suffering from a deprivation of which they are obviously unaware.

And so, as I sit here before my computer looking out at the gifts of spring, I realize how truly wonderful it is, this yearly promise of beauty that always comes true. The seasons playing out their roles so steadily with just enough variation for us to know what is coming next but not sure when. So dear reader, when you finish reading this article on spring, go outside and enjoy it because that is what it is all about.


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