3.12.2008

spring has sprung

it seems we left during a dreary winter and returned in spring. on my (very jet lagged) walk home from work yesterday i noticed the trees were full of flowers, it was warm enough to go without my jacket, and there were so many more people outside strolling around. yes, spring is upon us. thank goodness.

i'm still catching up on sleep, but i can feel the effects of vacation on my mind and body. my body holds less tension, despite the lack of yoga on the trip, and i feel a bit more laissez-faire than normal.

i'm ready to just be here. no big trips, no huge deadlines, no craziness. just settling into spring and enjoying the current state of things.

from artist keri smith last year:

"it's the first moment of respite in a hectic week filled with deadlines, house renovation, taxes, and company. but i feel strangely rested and purged. i think mainly due to the fact spring has arrived and I can finally let a fresh breeze into the house. is it the spring that begs us to stop for a moment and see that everything is as it should be? at the root of my being i want to clean the winter dust off of everything, and purge my house of anything unnecesary.

how wonderful that our biological urges are still intact in this period of staring at screens all day. somewhere in the depths of our bodies the animal nature breathes and makes us want to go walk on the earth again after the thaw.

how is it that the smell of the earth is like a tonic that calms us into a calm state, even when we are surrounded by concrete and cars? the body knows more about what it needs than we do. it craves flowers and green and air that moves through the trees. it speaks to the trees and the trees speak back, but somewhere along the way we lost the ability to hear the language. but it's there. i know it.

the average child is able to identify hundreds of corporate logos, yet incapable of naming the species of tree in their own backyard. Yet they still communicate with the tree even if they don't know it. it must have something to do with the urge to build a house up in the branches, or build a fort in the roots.

just thinking about forts made me want to build one for myself. out of chairs and blankets. i want to hide a pile of books in there and sitting reading for the rest of the afternoon.

and listen to what the trees have to say."