“What a strange thing!
to be alive beneath cherry blossoms.”
Kobayashi Issa
With the nip in the air coming down and the ground turning to wet slush with the rain midst the change of season, one can definitely see the beginnings of spring. As the leap month draws to a near close, the charge in the air and touch of green on the grounds reminds one of the new lease of life after the cold winds. As the days grow longer, the grounds come alive with the scampering of feet and a ball or the flight of the ball in the wind to the hands of the fielders. To put it in simple terms, spring brings sounds of laughter, running feet and life come alive, along with the vibrant colours in the air.
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” Carl Sagan
Our lives reflect the phases of spring at different stages. Going through difficult days, circumstances embroiled in worry, meshed with anxiety and the flurries of doubts of whether things would work out or not and the like has been experienced by each of us at some point of time or the other. On some days, one manages to survive and emerge victorious; while on other days one may barely make it through or sometimes not. In the days of the latter, is when one yearns for the events which bring a smile to the face through the memories stored and moments treasured. Those are the moments akin to spring, giving a new lease of life when needed the most.
“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”…
“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…”
Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)
Coming out through the quagmire of dark thoughts and emotions, each of us need that sliver of spring, giving the warmth through cold memories and bringing a fresh lease of life to the mundane. Coming out through those dark days takes immense grit and will. The joy of the colours awaiting brings the spring in the step towards the few few steps needed to reach the end of the drab and dingy roads.
Just as spring signals the new beginnings towards the end of the cold and stillness, so do our lives colour up when we come out of the gloom and embrace the chance, changes as well as keep the will and spirit strong, to look for the light at the end of the stormy tunnels.
The Twenty-Second of February
William Cullen Bryant
Pale is the February sky,
And brief the mid-day’s sunny hours;
The wind-swept forest seems to sigh
For the sweet time of leaves and flowers.
Yet has no month a prouder day,
Not even when the summer broods
O’er meadows in their fresh array,
Or autumn tints the glowing woods.
For this chill season now again,
Brings, in its annual round, the morn
When, greatest of the sons of men,
Our glorious Washington was born.
Lo, where, beneath an icy shield,
Calmly the mighty Hudson flows!
By snow-clad fell and frozen field,
Broadening, the lordly river goes.
The wildest storm that sweeps through space,
And rends the oak with sudden force,
Can raise no ripple on his face,
Or slacken his majestic course.
Thus, ’mid the wreck of thrones, shall live
Unmarred, undimmed, our hero’s fame,
And years succeeding years shall give
Increase of honors to his name.
Sugar And Spice... Among Other Things 