Universal Feeling

What IS it about the hope of Spring? Today is WARM! And if feels that the world is moving outside, inexorably drawn to expose one's skin to the sun, smell the softness of the air and earth. My world is still covered with snow, and a lot of it. But, today's warmth has melted the ice layer off the driveway. John pulled out a chair and placed it in the middle of the melted spot. The chair pads, of course, are still in the basement - winter storage. The gazebo that usually houses the outdoor furniture in warmer weather sits a bare structure, similar in color and nakedness to the trees behind it, feet in snow.

So, sitting in that chair and feeling sun warm (not wood stove warm), you can't HELP but sigh, relax, breathe deeply, tilt your face upwards and close your eyes. See the veined red/orange of your eyelids that you haven't seen for nine months. Feel the ground give a little, no longer frozen hard. Hear drips everywhere, different rhythms and volumes depending on the volume of water flowing.

Oh, and about the dogs - you can't go outside without the dogs following, looking for adventure, one dropping a stick in front of you for your to throw (see stick at bottom of photo), another trying to steal same stick, another off alone sitting in a snowbank.