Appreciating spring

The scenery was beautiful on the last drive to Austin that I took. One could tell that spring was in the air. The countryside teemed with new life. The color green was everywhere. Nowhere was even a hint of the sun scorching the earth. Nothing was brown unless it represented what had not given way from the winter to the verdant green announcing spring. The same drive just a few months ago portrayed a different season of the year.

It's odd that I would notice spring in such a way in the first place since long ago I left the spring of my years in terms of the seasons of life. If I take the average age for mortality, I must be in the fall of my life. Now, if I live as long as my grandmother, I am only half way through life, so I would still be in summer. But, I'll go with the average age for now. Maybe I still notice spring because I have a daughter behind me in the spring of her life. Or a son behind me etched forever in the spring of his life.

But I am not intrigued by spring because I know what is ahead–the burning days of summer, the shed leaves of fall, and the bitter cold of winter. I just know how to enjoy spring. And perhaps there is a message in this musing for me. If I take the seasonal cycle as a microcosm of the life we only get to experience once, then I need to pay attention to the rhythms of the microcosm and know how to enjoy each part of the cycle. So the pressing news for me is to know how to enjoy fall weather. At first there is a moderation of temperature. Leaves don't fall till late in the cycle. Then, comes winter.