Spring is my very favorite time of year. It’s a season of rebirth, renewal and regrowth … a do-over, if you will. Life just seems to come alive everywhere you look. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming and people just seem to be smiling more. William Shakespeare’s quote says it best, “April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” There’s a common expression, with a spring in your step, meaning a certain liveliness in the way we walk. This energy or joie de vivre is indicative of our happiness toward something or someone. Alfred Tennyson, the Victorian poet, suggests the latter in his poem Lockley Hall, “In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.”
As I write this there are rays of sunshine streaming through my kitchen windows filling the room with a soft warm glow. I take another sip of my coffee and notice the light revealing the things in this room that need some attention. The tables could use a dusting, the floor a mopping and the windows definitely need a washing. This is the time of year we clean out closets and remove the clutter in our lives. Yes, a good spring cleaning is in order. But I really don’t feel like cleaning and begin to question why this is my favorite time of year. I have this yearning to break away from my routine and the never-ending “to-do lists.” I have this incredible desire to do something different and exciting, to throw caution to the wind, take a drive, plan a trip, have an adventure. Spring Fever has crossed the threshold and is here to stay … oh yeah, now I remember why Spring is my favorite time of year!
An optimist is the human personification of Spring.
— Susan J. Bissonette
