Is It Already Spring?

Yesterday I noticed that the ice in the pond behind our house had all melted. And it was also gone in the pond that is just down the hill across the street from us and in Parker’s Lake which is also nearby. I found myself asking

This is not such an unusual question when I remember last winter and the snow which persisted until mid-April.

I saw photos on Instagram yesterday of early spring flowers at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, and on my walk, I saw signs of the early blooms of some of the trees along the path.

A pair of geese has taken up residence in our back yard. This is the third day that they’ve been here. I’m not sure whether to hope that they move on (all that goose poo on the lawn!) or stay and make a nest here (baby geese!).

All I know for sure is that I am going to soak in the beauty of these days. And that I feel grateful to have had such a mild winter. Somewhere in the back of my mind I worry about what this weather may mean in the long run. But meanwhile since I have no control over the weather I’m going to enjoy all the beauty. And I’m going to bask in the beautiful spring-like weather this week and soak in the sunshine and beauty wherever I find it.

On Traveling to Beautiful Places

Every day I’m still looking for God
and I’m still finding him everywhere,
in the dust, in the flowerbeds.
Certainly in the oceans,
In the islands that lay in the distance
Continents of ice, countries of sand
Each with its own set of creatures
And God, by whatever name.
How perfect to be aboard a ship with
Maybe a hundred years still in my pocket.
But it’s late, for all of us,
And in truth the only ship there is
Is the ship we are all on
Burning the world as we go.
― Mary Oliver, A Thousand Mornings: Poems

Each day I find tiny scenes of beauty and light — looking out my windows at the pond, walking out on the deck and looking towards the morning sun — everywhere there is beauty.

I hope that you also find inspiration and joy in these beautiful bonus days of an early spring.

May you walk in beauty.