It's Coming, I Can Feel It

I smell it in the air when I walk across my deck. I feel it in my bones when I look at the dead stalks--the ones I never got arount to trimming back last fall. I feel the excitement of what's to come as I look over the hydrangea plant and think about cutting it back so more flowers will come in the spring. My tulips are poking through the dirt, little tips of green against the black. The snow is gone and the pot of mums I never got around to planting appears, lying on its side in the garden next to the garage. It might not be too late for it.

The sun fools your senses, bringing to life the fever inside, the eagerness to get out and work in the garden and yard, and yet, just walking around the outside of the house pinks the cheeks and freezes your fingertips, its too soon, too early, too cold.

Back inside the house I lay with the dogs in the sun light that floods the floor in the living room. It's a secret my dogs know; lay in the sunlight for warmth and nourishment during those long cold winters.

There are some brave souls out and about, a man riding his bike, huddled in a thick down jacket. A woman, walking at a fast pace zips past the house, her ears covered with furry brown circles. But for me, I know the cold will hurt my lungs, burn my skin. Its too early, too soon.

Still, in my mind I can see it, the spring and summer to come. Lilacs blooming in the back yard. Hollyhock stalks standing tall against the garage. Tulips, the first to show their color. Mums growing too fast and needing a trim--for their own good. My herbs in the window boxes, basil, parsley and rosemary, my tomatoes---I hope they do better than last year. The deck, furniture placed just so, the umbrella, pots of flowers, their blooms cascading down the four steps to the concrete. I love spring and summer, made that much more important and glorious out here in Iowa because of the past four months of dreary grayness. It' s coming, I can feel it.