The Promise of Spring

We are about 2/3rds of the way through spring here in the heartland and it won't be long before summer takes over. I'm in my 62nd year on this earth and I've come to love spring, claiming it as my favorite season. Fall is a close second, followed by summer with winter finishing dead last.

I wandered through the garden last evening soaking in the sights and smells of the spring flowers that were coming into bloom. Irises, peonies, and  lilacs with their striking colors, textures and sweet, sweet fragrances. The cold and bleakness of the winter we all seemed to barely endure seems like a distant memory, although it wasn't that many days ago that we had a near killing frost and a record low temperature for May 15th. 

What is it about spring that makes me and so many others long for her arrival every year? 

We moved from Oskaloosa, Iowa to Des Moines in early June of 1960. I have a clear memory of the station wagon pulling into the driveway of our new home, jumping out and then running into the back yard only to be greeted by blooming lilacs, iris, peonies, bleeding hearts, violets and lily of the valley. While it wouldn't be long for the 8 of us Kingkade kids to completely destroy the backyard and all it's wonderment, that memory has remained with me and I'm reminded of it often at this time of year.

Spring became a more cherished season much later in my life when my senses, awakened by the gift of sobriety and the discovery of a new love, began to experience the season through the role of a gardener. Before we were married and early in our relationship, I accompanied Georgette to a garden center in the spring of 1996 to help her select the annuals that she annually (pardon the pun) planted in her yard. "Would it be OK if I planted a few things out back, behind the fence? There is a little spot I could dig up and start a small perennial bed?" Something like that. She said yes and I was off and running...the gardening bug took hold and it's been a passion of mine ever since.

Gardener or not, the flowers of spring are more than a sign that the starkness and bleakness of winter has passed. As nature awakens from her deep slumber, we are captivated  by the vivid colors and fragrances of spring like no other season. Our senses of sight and smell are tantalized. This week, the dwarf Korean lilac, Little Kim bloomed and her fragrance has us falling in love with her all over again. And for that alone, we long for and cherish spring.

Little Kim, dwarf Korean lilac

Spring also opens the door to summer and closes the door on winter. It's an optimistic season, as evidenced in the phrase "hope springs eternal". She doesn't always arrive on time but she has never failed to deliver on her promises. And this year, after a particularly long and rough winter, she is here in all her regal glory once again.

Not to be morose, but I don't know how many more springs I will have to experience.10, 20 or more  perhaps, but probably not 62. For me, spring won't last forever, but for the rest of the world, she will come again and so will her flowers.  That is the promise of spring.