We’ve waited for her. Eagerly anticipated her arrival. When she gets here we will look to her with, perhaps unfair, expectations. She, and she alone, can take the weariness from us, can lift our spirits, can chase away the doldrums that have besieged us for months. Illnesses will ease, viruses will flee in her presence. In just a couple of weeks, spring will finally return and I for one couldn’t be more ready to greet her.
It’s been a dark, dreary winter this year. Though temperatures have been much warmer than is typical, we walked through most days with clouds hanging over us. Environment Canada claimed that the great city of Toronto enjoyed just under 49 hours of sunlight in January, about half of the seasonal average. While I’m not a fan of winter’s chill I’d take a deep freeze with sunny skies over a world of grey any time. It has only served to make spring’s allure that much more enticing.
In this corner of the world, folks are ready to let the sun shine in, with silent prayer that when spring does get here, she’s in a good mood. Already businesses are promoting their seasonal specials. Clothing stores are clearing stock and pushing the newest arrivals; goodbye to the bulky knits, hello to light and airy fabrics and colours.
Nurseries are waking, preparing now for the busy months ahead of them when the green thumbs and the wannabes descend upon them in droves. There will be clearing and cleaning of greenhouses, reviving and replenishing of the inventory.
Spring means a shift in household priorities, too. With the increasing warmth we are drawn outdoors to take stock. As the trend continues, as the snow and mud recede and
diminish respectively, we begin the tasks of raking and tidying. Before we know it the patio furniture will be hauled out of storage. Plants will be potted, gardens seeded, beds filled with blooms.
Clothes fresh off the line, the gleam of newly-cleaned windows opened to blow away the staleness of a long-closed home are on the list of my favourite spring chores.
For now, though, we wait. Spring, like a baby, is new life. Just as we can’t control the length of labour, the timing of birth, the speed of delivery nor the gender of a newborn, neither can we know for certain what the new season will bring to us. Though we know her due date, spring might take her sweet time in getting here, offering nothing but dismal days of damp and cool.
But just as it is with a baby, we know that when she finally does get here, it’s all worth it. We will revel in the beauty of the new life spring gives us. The colourful blooms, the songbirds’ melodies lighten our hearts, minds and souls. We savour each and every moment.
Until then, as you prepare your welcome to spring, as you create promotions or personal projects themed to this time of renewal and rebirth, you’ll be looking for beautiful images to use. Here are some terrific spring collections from two online subscription graphics resources:
