Happy Spring!

This is from an old email- I just totally loved it.


Today is the first day of spring! I got to thinking about all the work we put into our yard and garden in order to get them spiffed up for a glorious spring and summer.

The heather is fluffed up in all the right places and my daffodils clump together with their mouths open like quartets singing big round letter Os. The tulips aren't
up yet but I'm sure they are in the last stages of hard labor. The maple trees that line our drive-way have another week before they burst out with new leaves. It was while walking around the yard that it hit me what a miracle this thing called spring is!

What if we had to pay for it?

I imagined my husband saying,

"With the economy the way it is right now, we just don't have the money to pay for a full blown spring. So you're gonna have to make some decisions about what you absolutely have to have bloom as far as your roses go and we REALLY have a tree dilemma!"

"A tree dilemma? What d'ya mean?"

"I mean you're gonna have to pick which ones you want to leaf out and which ones we can leave bare. We can't afford to pay for them all. I know how much you love the walnut tree, but do you have any idea how many leaves have to go on just that one tree to fill it out? And then there are the birds."

"What about the birds?"

"We just can't afford to bring 'em all in this year. Do you realize how much it costs to travel these days? So again, you need to decide which birds you can do without. You can choose ONE. Pick a bird."

"Pick a bird?"

"That's what I said."

"But I need my Rufuses, and the robins and the finches and the chickadees and my quail and my crows -oh and I have to have my blue birds!"

"I wish we could afford all of 'em, Honey, but just take those blue birds for example, they ship from 3,000 miles away! And as much as you love the robins, the cost of feathers (especially red ones) has gone up 150% in the last year. Oh and those humming birds you love so much are energy guzzlers and we just can't afford to have them this year. Pick a bird."

When I came out of my fantasy dialogue I was filled with gratitude! Spring is FREE! ALL my trees get to leaf, ALL my roses get to bloom, ALL my birds get to come, ALL my chipmunks, squirrels, pheasants, and deer, will be enjoying a very free spring right along with me.

Thank you God!