A SEASON OF RENEWAL

With every change in season, nature shows us a unique beauty known only to that season. Summer brings us long, warm nights and trees full of green leaves. Autumn shows off with the beautifully coloured leaves which eventually scatter at the base of the trees as the season turns to Winter. Snow and ice follow shortly behind as we hibernate indoors and wait for the thawing of Spring which brings along a renewal of the life cycle of nature with its pink blossoms, the emerging green of new leaves, and butterflies fluttering by.

In terms of people, our mindsets change to the shift of season. Spring is a season of renewal. Of hope from months spent indoors when we start to plan the flowers and vegetables for our gardens or balconies. When we once again start the process of Spring cleaning and readying our homes for warmer days and nights.

The first day of Spring started early. Already awake and reading by 6,00, I decided to go back to sleep for another hour afterwards. Breakfast was next, as I revisited an old scone recipe and made a few changes. After our late breakfast, I started making plans for the next month of rearranging our apartment. Seeing the state of the economy with the rising prices of everything, including the lack of affordable rental homes, we might have to stay here for the foreseeable future.

My plan for today included working on my son’s room and setting up his new gaming desk which has been sitting unassembled in its original box. I asked him to go outside and enjoy the warm weather, not mentioning I would be building his desk. As I took out the various pieces and followed the instructions for putting them all together, I remembered the time when I was pregnant with my first daughter and had assembled several wooden bookcases. I greatly enjoyed the experience then as I did today.

After two or so hours of his being outside, walking around, my son returned to a pile of packaging and the large desk box in front of our door. He ran inside and into his room with a look of great surprise and a grateful hug as he thanked me for both buying the desk and putting it together.

Seeing how the dresser and desk were now in his room, and his bed was all set up, I asked my son to help me move the middle piece of the sofa into his room as he had wanted a separate seating area. Though a bit crowded, it is now starting to feel more like a home. At least his room. The rest of our two-bedroom apartment will have its turn in the coming months as we take on projects every weekend.

After the sofa was moved and we ate an early dinner, I got dressed to go on an evening walk before the sun set on the first Spring day. The wind picked up and made the 23 degrees outside feel colder than it was. The fragrance of Spring was in the air from the white blossoms on the trees by the school which were next to the trees with pink blossoms. Spring has arrived and with it a season of renewal. Of hope. Of looking forward to new opportunities and possibilities.