In the first snowdrops brightening the valleys of roots beneath bare tree canopies, in the creeping-forward of the sunrise and the ever-loudening of the dawn chorus, spring is here at last. It’s in the air as it teases with warmer days but frigid nights, in the evenings that are spent that little longer outside, in the flung-open windows and daffodils lining flower beds and garden rows.
Swallows take first flights, ducklings leap into cool waters and lambs spring with joy across the moors and farms which check the UK’s rolling hills. What once was grey and brown begins to flourish with colour and scent; gorse flowers perfume rugged cliffs with Malibu cocktails, hawthorne’s healing blooms transform gnarled branches to delicate art forms and magnolias shower confetti with even the lightest gust of wind.
We brave al fresco suppers on the first warm day of the year, only to feel the boom of thunder deep within our bellies the next; April showers, wild gales and the hottest March since records began. Strolls in bluebell woods and foraging for wild garlic. Blossom tinctures and homemade hedgerow pesto. Vases stuffed with wildflowers, idle hands crafting daisy chain crowns and awakened butterflies feasting on heady nectar.
Vitamin D finally soaking through skin, ocean paddles and digging out sandals from the bottom of the shoe box. New life and sunny dispositions; optimistic plans and abandoned memories of early sunsets and frozen toes.
Spring. A welcome reminder that once given the time to rest, beauty comes forth with quiet confidence, bringing with it hope, peace and joy. A time to emerge from our hibernation to hug one another on beaches and warm street corners. A time to plant seeds, nurture and celebrate a renewed lust for life with energetic enthusiasm.
