Every Person and Living Thing Rejoices Spring

Spring! Fellow bloggers, people out walking in the street, creatures - I'd say even plants, even the water being released from its frozen prison of snow and ice to run free in the streams again - are celebrating. If ever there was a collective spirit or consciousness, this up swell of relief and joy has got to be its most fervent event. Happy Birthday my beautiful daughter, who is 23 today, and herself swelling with new, springlike, life - a baby due the beginning of October. As if messengers of this collective joy, I heard Canada Geese overhead honking their return this morning. Redwing Blackbirds were at the feeders this morning, and I'll bet the black bears have woken (it's okay that I don't see them!). And now I have a new Spring right of passage - skiing. We went skiing last night. My husband gave us season's passes for a local small ski area for Christmas. Now, neither one of us could really ski when we started this season with our shiny new passes. We could stand up on skis and get ourselves around a bit, but certainly not with any style. We got the passes so that we could learn something new - and get outside during the Winter. This local area even has night skiing. So even during the months of leaving work in the dark, instead of sitting around the house after we got home ('cause it dark and cold outside), we could pack up our skis and head out for an adventure. Riding the ski lift in under the moon and stars is quite enchanting. Now, several months later, I can zip down the intermediate slope. I'm still not very graceful: picture a middle aged grandma in my daughter's snowboarding pants and jacket with my rear end sticking out for balance. Since we are now on daylight savings time, it was still light when we got there last night. I watched the progression of the sunset from each chair lift ride up, vivid oranges fading to royal blue. The air was soft on my face, I think about 40F, just an amazingly different experience from having to wear a face mask against the bitter winds on our earlier visits. Now it's Spring. And now an acknowledgement of a loss, and this is nothing to do with Spring. I fell once, hard, last night. It was one of those falls where you are the ground, hitting with drop dead weight before you even are aware that you are falling. One second I am showing off to myself, and the next my back hit the ground and I was sliding fast down the slope with one ski and one pole staying behind. I was fine, not a bruise or a bump, not a thing. I thought of Natasha Richardson, and the fragility of life. One fall, my fall, a thousand, tens of thousands of other skiing falls happening that very week, all without a single injury. One fall that caused a death. I am so sad for her family's loss.