What is it about spring? Is it that first warm and sunny day that makes you feel like you’re wearing Willy Wonka kaleidoscope glasses? Is it seeing the first signs of life reemerging from the earth when we were just sure winter would last forever? Maybe it’s seeing colors of green and violet that can never be contained in a crayon, or the bluest sky that could never be replicated on a canvas. That’s the thing about spring…all of it.

 “That’s the thing about spring…all of it.”

I’m the lucky resident of a state that enjoys the fullness of all four seasons (and a couple of made-up seasons in between). In the summertime, it’s not unheard of to see days over 100 degrees and the only relief in sight is some kind of water and shade. In the autumn we witness the full-on spectacle and last hurrah of nature before the curtain closes. Petrichor…the unmistakable smell of big piles of earthy, crunchy leaves. Fields full of fat pumpkins and giggling kids on field trips. Chilly Friday nights at the football field with hot cocoa in hand. Then as graceful as Princess Odette, winter enters under the quiet and chill to put nature to bed for the rest it so desperately needs. That is unless she comes in like a ragged mother when her kids won’t quiet down and go to sleep. We’ve definitely had those winters too. Finally, spring comes to save us all from our hibernation and remind us that rest isn’t forever. We must grow! Change is in the air! All is made new again!

A family jumping in their backyard pool together
A couple standing close in the fallen leaves
family playing in the snow
children gathered around the doorway of a greenhouse

“The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other.” – Arthur Rubenstein

Missouri is in the full throttle of spring today. Neighborhoods buzz with kids with bubbles and chalk…bikes and trampolines. Yards are getting their vitamins and haircuts from the crews of barbers towing trailers. Friends are gathering around fire pits. Gardeners are playing the guessing game because a freak frost is ALWAYS a possibility. In the last few days it’s been wickedly windy, storming, sunny, cool to almost cold, and back to warm again. Spring teaches us to stay on our toes because she is never in the same mood. 

Wherever you are today in space and time, I hope you can take the time to notice the life bursting around you. I hope it causes you to appreciate the life bursting inside of you.

“Through the sun and rain, you will bloom all the same” Morgan Harper Nichols

 

young girl walking through her family garden

Maybe you’ve been in a dark night of the soul or a long winter of the heart. May spring give you the hope that renewal and regeneration are present in the very fabric of our natural world and is very present in your inner world as well. All is well in the end, and if it isn’t well it isn’t the end.  

Time to bloom…

Small purple wildflower
ladybug drinking on a blade of grass

“Where flowers bloom so does HOPE.” – Lady Bird Johnson

Are you wanting to capture your family blooming? Yes? Let’s talk!