On my walks in the neighborhood I see
Signs of Spring
Though I often call this time of year the time of sticks and mud, it is also a season of promise. It’s still looking brown and bare in the woods but there are signs that nature is waking from its long winter sleep. I saw green woodland weeds peeking through the dry brown leaves on the ground. And when I looked up I could see some of the trees beginning to bud.
“NO MUD, NO LOTUS Both suffering and happiness are of an organic nature, which means they are both transitory; they are always changing. The flower, when it wilts, becomes the compost. The compost can help grow a flower again. Happiness is also organic and impermanent by nature. It can become suffering and suffering can become happiness again.”
― No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering
A friend posted a photograph on Instagram of tulips growing in her flower beds. Birds are building nests. And the squirrels in the neighborhood have also been busy. They seem to especially enjoy the locust tree seed pods that are falling from the trees during the spring winds. I saw so many seed pods gnawed open, empty of seeds, on my walk today.
Day by day the ice on the ponds and lakes recedes. And the ducks and geese are returning to the ponds and streams. Soon the ice will be gone until next winter. And my duck and goose watching in the pond behind our house will begin.
As I walked through the park near our home today, a dad, a friend (I assume), and a daughter were out practicing on the ball field. One of the men was pitching to a little girl in a batting helmet. It was so fun to hear the crack of the metal bat when she hit the ball (on almost every pitch) and then watch her run to first base while the other man fielded the balls she hit and always managed to not quite tag her out at first base. She would then run back to home base and pick up the bat to hit the ball again. It was a sheer joy to watch her hit ball after ball with great enthusiasm.
“Come with me into the woods where spring is
advancing, as it does, no matter what,
not being singular or particular, but one
of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.”
― Dog Songs
I am also feeling great gratitude and joy at being able to take daily walks around the neighborhood. The simple fact that I can walk every day in nature is such a gift. Having mild March weather in Minneapolis, MN is a gift that I don’t take for granted. When I hear that Colorado is expecting another big snowstorm this week and we’re only expecting much needed rain I give thanks to the weather Gods for Minnesota weather this spring.
Saturday Jon and I drove over to Stillwater and took a masked walk in the neighborhood with our 2 grandchildren. They chattered happily about what they’d been doing, the older one wrapped up in computer programming and the younger one happily talking about art projects, and the change to let students be only 3 feet apart in schools. Both of them are still studying online rather than returning to in-person school and both are really hopeful that next fall they will be able to return to “normal” school and feel safe doing so (something they don’t feel safe doing right now).
So if you’re thinking that you can let down your guard and throw pandemic cautions to the wind, think again—please. Keep on keeping on with the distancing and mask wearing even if you’re feeling invincible after receiving your vaccine. There is a lot we don’t know about the COVID-19 variants and whether the vaccines will remain effective against them. The less spread we have the less chance the virus has to mutate and the more likely it is that we can finally return to a new post-pandemic normal.
We take care of all of us in the community by wearing masks and limiting the spread of the disease.
Have a lovely week my friends. What signs of spring will you see this week?
May you walk in beauty.
Note: All photos in today’s post made on my walk around the neighborhood today with my iPhone camera.
0 Comments