Spring is in the air

I was born and raised in California, but 12 years ago I left for a very rural area in the Northeast. The winters here can be brutal, and this winter proved to be a very hard one. Learning to drive in snow is adventurous enough, but learning to drive on ice, black ice, blizzards and wind storms is more adventure than most of us who live here care to have. Planning a trip to the store involves checking and knowing the weather. All seasoned residents will tell you that weather men/women are are crack, instead, pay attention to the birds and sky itself. Come mid-winter I am usually asking myself why did I move to this insane location and start contemplating a phone call to the local realator's office to put the house up for sale......then the most amazing thing happens.....spring arrives in the air! That's it, I am done for and start digging in again with anticipation and a lot of drool.....
This past month was the worst I have seen in years; the challenges of winter's rage held us all in her grip....but then the sun finally arrived to remind us of the promise of spring. Then the snow started to melt, which didn't happen to get me excited yet because it is usually a universal tease for us before the next big blast of ice and snow, but this time was different. The icicles slid off the roof and crashed onto the ground, exploding ice shards everywhere. Then, I saw the earth again under the white. Then the birds began to arrive in mass, but what really did it was the scent in the air itself.
After living in the snow belt for so many years, you can smell the air and know things. Spring has the most potent blood stiring scent I have ever smelled and there is the most luxurious, sensuous longing born that I could never trade in a million years. This past Sunday was the day for me, the day I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that winter is drawing to a close. This is an annual event for me. There is always this one day that Spring at last arrives and it is as if a 20 ton weight is lifted from my shoulders and my blood begins to stir and my heart starts its pitter patter in anticipation of seasonal change. This may all sound so goofy to many, but for me, this is the pay off, one of the big reasons why I live in this crazy rural area. It isn't for the night life, the malls, the shopping, the arts, the 'scene'. I live here because the fecund earth feeds me with my spiritual needs more than any other place in the world.