I'm almost afraid to say it -could it be- spring??? Well, at least a hint of it.
The thermometer hit 60 today -the sun was shining- the sky was a clear, azure blue.
I dragged my lawn chairs out of the shed, and I'm sitting on the back porch (trying to ignore all the fallen tree branches lying around the yard) and just breathing in spring.
Ahhh.
Whether its the mellow weather, the book I'm reading (The Senator's Wife, by Sue Miller), or getting away for a bit this weekend (we traveled to the west side of the state for a couple of concerts), my mind is running on overdrive - so many thoughts percolating in my brain, I can barely slow it down long enough to type.
A story popped into my head this morning-does that ever happen to you, that you're reading a really good book, and suddenly one phrase sets an idea in motion, and idea for a story that then insinuates itself into your mind, poking and prodding at you when you least expect it? Off and on today, I've been jotting down notes and phrases and sentences that occur to me, so there are now scraps of paper torn from the note pad in the hotel, the program from the concert last night, and even the bulletin from this morning's church service - all representing some fragment of this story that's been rolling around in my brain.
Will I ever get round to actually writing it?
Who knows.
But I'm enjoying this creative blossoming, mirroring as it does the gestating going on underground these days, as I watch the grass turn progressively greener before my eyes, the small shoots of tulips, and crocus and hostas poking up from the dry ground.
It never ceases to amaze me, the regenerative power of life. How after the worst of cold, barren, difficult winters, the earth can sense a turning of the tide, can respond to the first warm rays of sunshine and ignite its cycle of growth and renewal.
People do it too, don't they? Something in the human spirit responds to that as well, even though, in so many ways, we no longer need rely soley on nature for basic sustenance. It's a tale as old as time, as the song goes, the joy and inspiration that comes from the idea of rebirth, renewal- spring. It gives us the impetus to move forward, to be hopeful, to care about life all over again.
So I'm off to enjoy the last bits of sunshine (it's almost 8:00 and the sun is still shining - that in itself is a miracle!)
The only blemish on this day - you know I'm simply dying to go for a walk (damned broken foot!)
Oh well.
Soon I'll be sprung.