I thought I read or heard it was going to be in the 60s, so I pulled on my cropped yoga pants and the quilted vest yearning to see the light of spring, and dashed out the door. I turned around before locking to grab a winter coat. It was overcast, drizzly, and felt very cold even if it was the first Sunday morning in spring!
I turned on the seat warmers, cranked up the heat, and realized it was 39 degrees. I jumped on the highway and was almost there when I noticed DD was next to the exit ramp. I made a fortuitous decision and stopped for a large, hot, black coffee.
There were SUVs lined from stem to stern and a field of preteen girls in shorts and tees tossing yellow balls from tiny baskets attached to sticks. Meanwhile, their parents caught up on the local gossip, children's sports accomplishments, and the costs of training clinics. "We did the travel program where they promised 100 games including some at Disney World," one boasted. I cringed, wondering the cost, time and family energy.
I noticed a bevy of brothers playing soccer, a bunch playing football, and a few tossing Frisbees oblivious to the loud geese returning in the largest V formation I've ever seen while sipping my coffee. Meanwhile. parents wrapped in blankets and siblings snuggled under blankets, trying to warm themselves while the wind blew across the fields. Finally, the shivering girls began to play.
It was 8:45 in the morning and it was finally spring on the calendar, at least. I smiled thinking of the poem, I Heard a Bird Sing. We are at least nearer to spring than we were in September!
I Heard a Bird Sing by Oliver Herford
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.
"We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,”
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
From Welcome Christmas! A Garland of Poems (Viking Press, 1955).
This poem is now in the public domain.
5 comments:
Brr, I do not miss cold weather! I hope you get spring weather soon.
I might have cringed with you at one point. Your slice reminds me of a Richard Scary page of people at the park all doing their thing.
The calendar may say spring, but hear, at least, no one told Mother Nature. A large group of people milling around is great fodder for a slice.
Oh, those athletes. It's spring in their hearts no matter what the thermometer says. I'm glad you had coffee to sustain you and the wherewithal to look up and catch those geese in their alphabetic splendor. (That phenomenon always amazes me!)
Finally spring on the calendar...that's how I'm feeling right now. I love all the images here. I can picture you scanning the scene making mental notes or even real scribbled note of everything you're seeing and hearing. And the poem is spot on. Each day there's a bit more light. I've been saying that since December 21, taking baby steps toward real spring.
~ humbleswede
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