Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Lesson of Spring

Summer is sweat and tomato juice running down my chin.  Tasting soil as perfectly scarlet fruits burst over my tongue, still warm from the afternoon sun.  Sweaters in the evening keep stargazing warm, but shorts and bare feet remain a mark of freedom.  Fingers stained like a mulberry bruise that endless hours in the pool won’t erase. Lying still on the hottest nights waiting for relief in a cool breeze that never comes. 

Rushing in comes Autumn.  The crisp air fresh in my lungs sends a surge through my body.  I relish in watching the trees catch fire in golden flame, then envelope in one last crimson breath before the leaves take their final bow.  It may seem like a time of decay, but the excitement that comes with new school notebooks and carefully selected first day outfits is etched deeply in my own circadian rhythm.  Autumn is a new start. Not just a blank page, its a whole book to fill. 

Winter brings anticipation.  Eagerly awaiting the next storm, the next snow day, the next holiday…one countdown runs into the next disrupting any chance at a regular schedule for months on end.  Childhood fantasies of jolly characters linger and fill the season with a romantic hopefulness that makes sunless days spent wandering the indoors tolerable. 

But slowly comes Spring, the most taunting mistress of all.  She comes in waves - flirting with you one day and leaving you hollow and wanting the next.  She doesn’t slip by undetected, however.  You can feel her approach in the air before she appears at all.  Stepping outside this evening I felt the trademark breeze of Spring, easing the tension between Winter and Summer. Trails of her warm breath grace my cheek while the cool zephyr of a loitering Winter whips around my calves; extremes melding to create a perfectly balanced whole. Autumn may be my favorite season, but Spring delivers the lesson I need to understand most: Balance.  

No comments:

Post a Comment