Spring Musings

March has arrived, so spring can't be far behind. Goodbye snow and ice. Goodbye naked trees and depressing brown grass. The earth and I are ready to shake off the winter doldrums and dwell in living color. The promise and miracle of spring have been written about so much that it almost seems trite to mention them again, and I promised myself I would not do it. But two weeks ago, the snow in my front yard melted, and lo and behold daffodils shoots were hiding beneath a snowdrift. And I was struck all over again by the tenacity of spring.

The buds on the trees in my yard bulge with promise while the TV meterologists are gearing up for spring thunderstorms. Before we know it, the mockingbirds will be back to claim their territory in my front yard and begin their annual assault on my poor old tom cat. The days are longer now, and with those extra hours of daylight and almost balmy breezes, my thoughts turn to spring planting. I peruse the nursery catalogs and twirl the seed racks at local stores. In my mind my bare and bereft flower beds burgeon with lush vegetation and a veritable kalaidescoe of flowers. So I buy the seeds and order the plants. My enthusiasm is only slightly dulled when the seed packet contains tiny, almost microscopic husks, and dormant sticks arrive from the mail-order nursery. In my mind's eye I still see a potential paradise.

I know that in a few months, weeds and reality will have set in. But for now I dwell in possibility. That is what spring does for us. We see hope in a daffodil shoot, and that hope transfers to other parts of life. If a fragile flower can fight its way through a shroud of snow, we can persevere.

Wedding Bells Ring in Georgia

My family just attended the storybook wedding of my daughter. She and her wonderful fiance got married in a tiny white chapel in rural Georgia in front of close friends and family. The elegant long dresses and tuxedos and red roses contrasted with the small, rustic sanctuary. Afterward, the wedding party and guests enjoyed a glorious meal at a former cotton plantation built in 1852. The nights before and after the wedding, family and members of the wedding lodged at a huge log cabin in the woods complete with a running stream a few yards outside the back door. We felt as if we were on a movie set or in a romantic novel.
When we arrived home, my husband apprehensively asked for the total bill for the wedding extravaganza. When I told him, he half jokingly said, "I didn't know I had that much money!" To which I replied, "Well, you don't anymore." Upon further consideration, he said, "You know, that would have made a nice down payment on a house for them." Men can be so maddeningly practical and literal minded! Generous father that he is, he had no qualms about spending money on his daughter; it's just that he has very little use for formals and flowers.
I, on the other hand, see the wedding celebration as a beautiful gift not only to our daughter and her husband but also to our entire family. For one thing, we were all together for one unique and fabulous weekend. We will always have the memories of this beautiful time together.
I am a firm believer in celebrations. Life is hard. Day-to-day problems wear away at us all. People usually can't avoid life's travails, but they can choose to savor the good parts of life and celebrate the bonds that make life precious. Even the Bible tells us that Jesus celebrated at a wedding. That is where He performed His first recorded miracle. Indeed, there is something miraculous about a wedding!