Spring is in the Air

There will be buds
and bees
and boots
and bubbles.
 
There will be worms
and wings
and wind
and wheels.
                                                                                   from When Spring Comes
                                                                                                 by Kevin Henkes
​                                                                                illustrated by Laura Dronzek
 
       I love the crocus sprouts, the dazzling yellow daffodils and the hyacinth scents of early Spring. The first Spring in my new home offered none of this. How sad. But I dreamed all summer about what I would plant and where each bulb would go. I scoured the catalogs and chose my favorites. Hundreds of bulbs “would arrive just in time for planting in my area.”
       And they did! On a beautiful Fall morning I got out my digger and my watering can. In those days, I did not need the blue-checkered sit-upon that my daughter made when she was in Girl Scouts. I placed and planted. And watered.
       I washed up, poured a glass of tea and waited. Winter came and went, and came back and finally left for good. Those sprouts did not disappoint. Buds got heavy and burst. I felt kinda bursty, too. My trees were waking up. The woodsy ground under them turned violet with grape hyacinths, and golden with daffodils. Crocuses were croaking merrily.
       Meanwhile, I had made a wonderful friend. We liked the same things and liked to go to the same places and she had two little girls, too. We were all friends.
       What I did not know was how much her older daughter loved spring flowers. As much as me, I think. We admired them and went inside for the lunch I made. My friend and I thought it was a great idea when the kids asked if they could go out to play.
       Several minutes later, I answered a knock on the door. Imagine my surprise (read horror!) to see a little girl with fists full of my newly-blooming treasures, grinning! Really, not many were left to live out their natural lives in the dirt.
       My shock turned to joy when I saw that huge smile. She was little, after all, and did not know that it would take a whole year for those flowers to bloom again. She was bringing her mommy flowers, because she knew she loved them. How could anyone be angry about that? After all, the flowers WOULD bloom again...next spring. And now I had a whole year to imagine and dream about that.
       When the new catalogs arrived, I ordered lots more. Maybe even enough for everyone..                                                                                                                                                                    --stay curious!
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