Springtime Daydreams

"I've been shoveling the snow away/Working hard for my pay/All I gotta say in we're starting a new life" (song lyrics by Van Morrison)

in a green house on Smith College’s campus, a couple of weeks ago

In Vermont, we keep our Christmas wreaths by the entrances to our homes until they start turning brown in March...or April. I assessed mine as having seen greener days earlier this month, and I vowed to take it down as soon as the weather was less cold, less windy, less grey. This task involves removing the decorations, to keep for next year, before tossing the wreath into the woods behind the house. It’s a looking-forward-to-spring project, so I like doing it on a relatively warm sunny day.

When the mercury didn’t reach 45 in early November, I thought it was cold. I braced myself for the winter weather that was coming and I dug out my hats and scarves and mittens. Today, I was delighted to wear a light jacket and none of those warm accessories. Same temperature, different month and perspective.

How adaptable we humans are. We get used to the cold. But eventually we also get tired of it. We wait longer here than much of the country waits for spring weather and growth. It’s a long haul, waiting for spring in Vermont. They say April is the cruelest month in the Northeast. One’s hopes can be so easily dashed by a spring snowstorm. But days like today keep yearning alive. I have looked for crocus blooms in my garden but have found not even green shoots. Still, I find myself daydreaming of life on the screened porch. Dining al fresco may be many weeks away, but it will happen. And there won’t be a Christmas wreath hanging around when it does.