It’s Spring at last! Yet April necessitates patience and patience, by definition, is hard. Otherwise it would just be waiting. April provides an even more tangible promise of euphoria, while simultaneously requiring us to sit a while longer in transition. Our expectations begin to get the better of us. The snow has given way - well, usually (I’m looking at you Ohio) - but to what? There are days of warmth and sunshine to be sure, but very often there is rain and even a blustery reminder of the winter past. I hurry to my community garden plot to water my plants and keep them from burning up in near 90 degree weather, only to hurry back two days later to cover them and protect them from possible frost. “Gah!,” I project in my being. “Just hurry up and get there…arrive already,” my essence seems to say.
But there are gifts here, in this space and time of year, to ease the hearts of even the most impatient. The sprouts and blooms make me happy, as do the bright shades of green that seem to capture light and life, not yet having matured into deep forests or emeralds or sages. My youngest daughter gleefully celebrates every time a new baby plant boldly reaches toward the sun, displaying itself in its egg carton cup, bound soon enough for the community garden. The rain offers peace and calm and all of nature takes a breath before an inevitable explosion of color and excitement. It all seems to tell of what is to come, while bringing joy right now. Such is April. Be patient my friends. Honor February’s fallow ground, look forward to the May flowers, AND enjoy life now in its visible state of becoming.
Check out some of these classic quotes about renewal, freshness, beginnings, growth, and Love. By the way, April means not only “to open” but is also named for Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of Love. How fitting. Enjoy!
Sprouts by Markus Spiske
“Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby” — Langston Hughes
“Be like the bird
That, pausing in her flight
Awhile on boughs too slight,
Feels them give way
Beneath her and yet sings,
Knowing that she hath wings. — Victor Hugo
"April hath put a spirit of youth in everything." — William Shakespeare
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.” — Henry David Thoreau
Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love.” — Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota leader