The individual seasons all have their own unique qualities that we can enjoy, but I think that on the whole Spring is the season that is most welcomed by the majority.
Signalling the possibility of lighter evenings and, dare I say it a touch of sunlight on the skin, Spring casts off the long dark winter evenings spent huddled together in a nationwide hibernation, reliant on lamps and central heating to bring warmth to our interiors - or perhaps a scented candle if you’re feeling fancy.
Spring is when the world reawakens. Gardeners begin to hopefully sow seeds and the first shoots of green start to appear, songbirds return to fill the great outdoors with music and chatter, and after a gluttony of rich winter stews, we all anticipate those culinary delights reserved for spring. Asparagus season, great swathes of wild garlic in woodland, the arrival of shipments of Jersey potatoes and personally for me, those first delicious stalks of purple sprouting broccoli that appears in my local greengrocer. After a winter of prosecco, sloe gin, roast dinners and puddings galore, enjoying a cool glass of water and some fresh green vegetables is a simple pleasure that should never be overlooked.
Spring is a season of anticipation.
Spring is also when people start to feel their energy begin to return. After a lethargic winter there are suddenly Things To Do. The garden needs to be brought back to life, the washing can be put out to dry on the line again and there is colour to be seen in the great outdoors. Bluebells! Snowdrops! Crocuses!
Perhaps this year is an anomaly because I think we are all tired of the three words that our social lives have been limited to: “fancy a walk?” But in normal years, who doesn’t enjoy a saunter through a bluebell woodland?
This is the year where many of us have had the time to forge a greater connection to the world outside our front doors. They say to be tired of London is to be tired of life, but how many city dwellers have been so busy on the great hamster wheel of metropolitan life that they failed to notice the small subtle differences that differentiate the slow turning of the wheel of the year?
I have been anticipating this Spring more strongly than in any other year. After a tough, stagnant year, we are all ready for renewal and for life to be breathed back into us. Whilst we use the words ‘return to normal', I don’t think many of us want to return to the exact lives we had before. The pandemic has given us a pause, space to breathe and think. We don’t want old normality, we want to embrace the progress that we have made, the new connections we have forged, the relationships we have strengthened and the habits that we have created that have supported us. What we are ready for is to embrace the new opportunities in a world that is open again. Spring is here to reawaken us, just as the natural world around us goes through periods of hibernation and growth, so do we. It has been a long hibernation, but Spring is here, the world is starting to wake up and the opportunity for growth is there. If you have even a small change that you wish to make, sometimes all you need is a bit of sunlight and water to help it take a root, and then flourish.
