Springtime

Squirrel Song

 "You fill up my senses

Like a night in a forest

Like the mountains in springtime

                                                                    Like a walk in the rain

Like a storm in the desert

Like a sleepy blue ocean

You fill up my senses

Come fill me again."

John Denver ("Annie's Song")

    In Alabama we actually have 12 seasons (according to a post on Facebook). We've just come through Winter, and Fool's Spring; we've skipped Second Winter, Spring of Deception, and Third Winter, and moved straight into The Pollening. In other words, we've had a short, warm winter, and now the trees are blooming and leafing out. Within a day or two, our cars will all be yellow-green with pollen and our noses will be beeping-Rudolph-red. The pollen season here is an annual torture ordeal that drives people to wear goggles and masks, and sprint from car to door to minimize exposure. 

    I cleaned up the screen porch yesterday because my book group will gather there today. Dusting the tables created an evil green cloud and The Pollening season has only just begun. On a positive note, however, Spring is hard to resist. Everyone in my neighborhood was outside on a sunny, balmy 80-degree Saturday (March 5th). People walked dogs, strolled babies and just generally idled in the sun. The birds are completely insane with mating-gone-wild and the squirrels have ripped half the bark off the oak trees trying to get to each other. That's the thing about Spring--it will bring out the feral in you. 

    Like John Denver's song, Spring fills up our senses. As sap runs up the oak trees, we feel our libidinal energy surge--it wants to create something new, something not yet seen, something only dreamed about through the darkness of winter. We are not immune to the warming of our blood and the waking of our suppressed urges. We are, after all, mammals. 

    Having mammalian urges is nothing to be embarrassed about--as they say around here, they're God-given. (they usually say that just before they do something they've got no business doing) I don't know that God has much to do with it, but our Springtime urges certainly are normal. I think we are meant to enjoy these new-life feelings, give thanks for the spark of energy they produce after the winter of anxiety and isolation. For the time being, we can go outside, take off our masks, snort up some pollen, go mad with the birds and squirrels, and hope we don't hurt ourselves running up oak trees. We can rest assured that when Spring is over, we'll go straight into the season of Hell's Front Porch, so enjoy it while you may!

                                            In the Spirit,

                                            Jane