New Life

Aahhhh Spring!  It hasn't been such a long winter-for Spokane anyway.  But nonetheless, I am ecstatic to have more daylight, sunshine, and glimpses of warm weather.  There is conflict in me in regard to climates where it's moderate and relatively warm year round versus living in a region where there are four distinct seasons.  The older I get, the more I long for a consistently warm place, especially when the gray, foggy days of February seem never ending!  By this time of year I'm feeling house bound, weary of rain and cold, and ready to rotate sweaters and boots to the back of my closet in favor of flip flops!

Yesterday we had one of those teaser days when the sun was shining, shorts were the dress of the day, and BBQ smells were wafting through the neighborhood as the sun was setting.  I puttered around the yard, scheming about flower pots on my patio, string lights across the length of my back lawn, and how to make a garden possible with my existing sprinkler system.

As all these thoughts and plans were swirling around my head, I realized that like anything else in life that we wait for, the sweet days of spring and summer are so sweet because they are enjoyed only for a time, and then suddenly, they are a memory, lost to the crisp days of fall and then snow and days of more darkness than light.  Surely this time of year is appreciated more because we've come through the winter!

Isn't life cyclical as well?  I was reflecting on this past winter and realized that I have been in a "winter" season as well.  Maybe that's why I was so hopeful and rejuvenated as I pulled out the dead leaves and stalks on my plants to reveal the new growth.  I know it's not a new, original idea, but I'm a reflective person, so I tend to see lessons in the mundane.  In life we have seasons that are long, cold, harsh, dark. Relationships end, circumstances make us feel hard pressed, our expectations aren't met, hopes are dashed.  But then, when we feel like hope is lost-a glimpse of spring! Circumstances change for the better, something we didn't expect comes to pass, we have hope, a lightness of heart.  

I'm also a very visual person! If I can see it, I can understand it.  So as I was gardening, I was seeing the contrast of the old, dead plants giving way to new growth and I was inspired and grateful to be reminded of this phenomenon in my own life as well.  Here's what I was seeing:

 Remnants of the old plant from last year.  Some stalks were ready to be completely removed, but some were holding on tight enough that I would have damaged the new growth by yanking them out.  So I removed what I could easily and...below is the new, all spruced up.

 I was feeling invigorated by this point! So I moved on to the side of my house.

 

By now I was excited to see how things were progressing with a pot on my back patio. Last year I had Basil, Rosemary, and Chives in this pot and I knew (or I thought I knew) that the Basil and Chives were annuals and would have to be taken out and re-planted but the Rosemary is a perennial and it would grow back!  I had already taken out the Basil plant last fall and left this pot next to the house. But I when I saw the pot, I was stunned! If you know me, it will come as no surprise to hear that what I thought was "WHAT THE WHAT???"

My previously beautiful Rosemary plant was D-E-A-D!! Not like dormant dead.  Like completely dead to the root, nothing-short-of-a-miracle-is-bringing-this-guy-back-to-life dead! I was crushed.  But I was giddy to see that my chives were alive and well! Yes, it's the little things that do it for me.

Isn't that how it goes?  Pretty much sums up life.  My life anyway. What I'm sure of sometimes isn't so sure, and what I didn't expect is there in front of me.  Life is grand that way.  I hope your winter is giving way to new life and you see growth and beauty in the every day. This is what I saw this morning:

 
Blessings!