It finally feels like spring! For a couple of days now it has been warmer and the sky is blue again. The last snow storm is only a memory now. There is still some snow on the ground and the mountain tops are still white, but here in the valley the birds are singing and the trees are budding. With the snow melting, patches of brownish grass appear and sometimes a smell of decay, and it’s muddy too, but soon the first green will show its tender tips. I am so ready for spring!
The first of March is the meteorological beginning of spring. Here in the mountains, though, spring is still far away with the next blizzard approaching. We still have a lot of snow; not so much in the valley but loads on the mountains. While I like the snow, I do not enjoy the cold very much 🙁 . I really long for warmer weather and especially for blue skies again. Winter here seems to be half a year of grey skies. So I look at old photographs and just dream about spring being already here.
“Summer gathers up her robes of glory,
And like a dream of beauty glides away.”
—Sarah Helen Power Whitman (1803-1878), A Still Day in Autumn
Meteorologists say it’s the first day of fall tomorrow. Though I have to say, it has almost felt like November already a couple of days ago. But I am not complaining; this summer has been so much better than the last one. Warm but not hot and accordingly a lot less wildfires and smoke. There still was, and every now and then is, some smoke from fires north and west of here, but breathing has been so much easier this summer!
Though for me every season has its own charms and I do love them all, I am nonetheless sorry that summer is over. I still cling to my flip-flops and avoid socks and real shoes whenever possible. I wonder if it’s because we wear so much less clothes in summer than in winter that everything seems lighter and easier when it’s nice and warm outside? And with the Sun shining from a deep blue summer sky, the world looks so much friendlier and …well… warmer. So, farewell to thee fair summer and until next year!
