It’s amazing how much better a person feels just getting out into warmer, dryer air.
The daffodils are out. Pink blossoms are popping out on trees. Green shoots are popping out of the ground. The infinite shades of new green are everywhere, and the blue sky has never been more welcome.
People throw off their Winter coats, and find their sandals and shorts again. The parks are full of laughing children and adults trying to remember how the gears work on their bikes. Faces squint at the bright light coming from the sky.
Spring.
This is only a preview, of course. The tease before it comes to stay in a few weeks. Or August.
It always comes right when we need it most, don’t you think?
We breathe it in, and then we can stand to battle gray skies and rain until May. Or July.
Our green plants and trees are paid for with a rain tax here. Sometimes, when it’s February and we haven’t seen blue sky since October it seems like an unfair thing to require of us.
Mostly, though, we’re thankful to have the rain if it brings us green grass, cherry blossoms, lush ferns and rivers and streams full of fish.
Don’t ask us how we feel about it in August when we haven’t seen the rain for a while.
Don’t ask us in November, when we still have months of rain in front of us.
Ask us in that week in late February or March when we get a sneak preview of what Spring means.
If you ask us then, we’ll tell you it’s worth it.