Another Spring

I have been having so much trouble dealing with the fact that my car died that I forgot to notice that it is once again Spring.  Walking the dogs after a trying day fraught with setbacks involving my transportation woes it suddenly dawned on me that Spring is here.  I forced myself to pay attention to what was around me, to stop fretting over what will soon be an irritating memory.  The sight of the trees flowering on Dog Island jolted me into the immediate present.  It would have been sad to miss this.  Despite the fact that it was an easy winter, the coming of Spring in New England is always a cause for celebration.  There is nothing subtle about the change.  Even though the new year begins in January, it arrives  pretty much unnoticed in terms of our environment.  May, though, is the world turned upside down.  Shovels go into the basement and lawn mowers replace them.  Bare dirt comes alive with grass and flowers.  Buds appear on the branches of trees and turn to blossoms and leaves.  Winter coats and boots go into closets, T-shirts and sandals resurrected.  Furnaces shut off and heaters retire, to be replaced by air conditioners and fans.  Four o'clock in the afternoon is still that....afternoon.  Daylight creeps into the night and reappears before four o'clock in the morning here in Eastport.  It's hard to imagine here in this part of the world that there are places where the changes in the seasons are much more subtle.........not much more than it changes here day to day.

I planted myself firmly in the present as I walked.  Even though the future is uncertain for everyone, at my age my life is certainly mostly behind me.  All the more reason to stay alert to the present and not let this Spring go by unnoticed.  Amazingly, no matter how many times I see it happen it never fails to be amazing.  It really is a miracle.