Glimpses of Spring

It's officially the last week of winter and we're anxiously waiting and looking for signs of spring...

Shivering in jackets and mittens, burning cheeks and numb noses, we have felt relief in the upper 30's (and 40's! And even 50's!) and wandered the local parks celebrating in the green patches between grey and white.

Wet slushy side walks on 40 degree days feel like summer after weeks (months!) of being frozen and walking carefully across crusted ice.

Roo apparently finds 40 degrees perfectly acceptable jacket-free weather!

While the cuddle bugs shiver in winter jackets and keep blankets close...

But we're still celebrating! Spring is coming! 

 

From today...The snow is losing!

From our trip to the park today...

This was all buried in about 2 feet of snow not 6 days ago! 

Spring is a glorious thing! We're so excited! I think my favorite part of raising people and being around kids is their ability to bring us back to really appreciating the seasons. I am so glad we live where there are 4 seasons. Winter is hard, but in a way it teaches me to rest, to appreciate the shorter darker days. This winter especially I embraced the rest of winter in a way I haven't really allowed myself to ...ever. I needed the rest, we need the seasons of waiting and rest. But there comes a point where the long dark days drag on, it feels like a terrible transition- stuck in between knowing things have their proper seasons- and desperately ready to move on! Winter, there is some discomfort in the long darkness, there are lessons and joys as well. 

Because...When spring finally does arrive, you wish you could kiss it in welcome! You're so happy n a way you never could have remembered if you didn't know the winter so well. And the thrill of seeing buds on the trees, the smell of the ground waking up after a long sleep. You remember it hasn't always been cold silence. The days are longer and it feels delicious to be tucking little ones in bed and knowing that the day is not really ending. I could wax poetic about this way longer than I will. We're so happy, SO happy to welcome spring this year.

Especially this year it feels like the waiting time has passed, now it's just one fun leap to prepare for all that's next. Spring! To make the yard beautiful.  Spring! To grow our garden. Summer! To eat our fruits and veggies and listen to the buzz of the the cicadas and the sound of the sprinkler. The hum of the air conditioners and the cool family room during rest time on hot July days. To know that soon we'll be  welcoming some one new. That our autumn will be full of just as many changes as the trees, and our winter will come again, well won rest. 

To spring! Yes, we're so excited we would kiss it! 3 more days!