Today is the first official day of Spring! Ohhh, how I love this time of year. I love the newness of things. I love the little buds of leaves and flowers peeping their tiny green selves out of the grayish-brown stalks and branches that crave to be covered in life and beauty and color. I love the re-awakening of nature.
Oh, I am in love with this time of year. I love the birds returning to their homes and the babies that hatch from their nests. I love the brand new life that Spring sets forth.
I love the warmth that beckons us to retreat from our hibernating dens and let the sun shine down upon our pale faces. I so enjoy planning for the vibrant flowers that will adorn all of my planters. I get excited knowing that soon, very soon, my hands and fingernails will be caked with black soil, and it doesn't bother me that I'll be scraping it off for days afterwards. I know most people use gloves to plant, but I do not. I love the feeling of the dirt on my skin, and I love how I look when I see myself in the mirror and it's streaking my sweaty, sunny face and arms. I feel refreshed and alive.
It makes me so happy to see my kids running around outside, asking if they can help. Because I am extremely particular about how my planters look (some might call this OCD or controlling... whatever), we'll get the kids their own plants and give them a couple of planters or spots in the yard where they can tend to their flowers. I love teaching them about nurturing plants and how important it is to appreciate nature, how to recognize the artistry that the earth creates for us to enjoy, and how it sustains us. Summit hasn't been so into this in the past, but I am sure he'll jump on the bandwagon as soon as he sees his sister doing it. (I have no doubt in my mind that they'll fight over it, too. Ha!)
Every year, Matt grows a garden, and the kids love helping to germinate the seeds and plant the vegetables in the ground. They get to see how food grows and what it looks like when it's ready to pick. They learn that they can eat the things that they produce with their own hands, that they don't have to go to the market to get all of their food. And, it encourages them to eat vegetables more, which is
really freaking important for Summit, who thinks that green candy is a vegetable and red candy is a fruit.
Ohhh... so much goodness comes out of this time of year. There are so many ways to grow and change and wipe our slates clean. Most people think of New Year's as a time to make resolutions, but this is my time to regenerate myself. I see how my legs could use a little exercise, how my stomach won't like the bathing suit that I just bought. I see things to clean and remember how much there is to do outside of my house, outside of myself. We get new chances to interact with people and nature. We get to re-introduce ourselves to the earth, and she returns the favor in kind.
You should have been raised on a farm....I do think you have it a little askew, however...Last year I bought flats of all the colors, textures, etc of plant material I wanted to use in the pots and then cut Big and Lil loose to plant in whatever pots they wanted with whatever plants they wanted, knowing that if adjustments were necessary, they would be slight. The lessons learned that day would far out weigh the little bit of extra tweaking I would have to do later. The job was completed in a matter of minutes, but I'll not forget that day for the rest of my life.
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