There is so much pink and white, lush, lush green and sky blue outdoors these past days. The teasings of Spring have begun. Swelling buds reveal just a hint of the colour and life beneath. The vibrant yellow green of growing grass reminds us of the mowing season ahead and warm sunshine beckons us to stop and soak it all in. Beanies have been replaced with sunhats and the days are becoming noticeably longer as the sun crawls higher in the sky and our girls stay up later and later catching those few last bugs before the night's roost. The soft lingering light of twilight has replaced the hurry home heaviness of Winter evenings.
Doors and windows were thrown open these last few days and the daffodils we planted weeks ago have finally uncurled from their earthy rest. Zahra is spending more time outdoors than in, and I can hear her out in the yard singing in the season. She is a Spring girl this one, born on the first calendar day of the new season. Something she is proud of and holds dear to her heart. When people ask her when her birthday is she replies not with a date but with "the first day of Spring". This weekend she turns eight. An age where I can feel her letting go just a little from me, making more of her own way out in the world in ever so small ways. This year for her birthday I am gifting her a quilt. My first quilt. A quilt for her to wrap herself in and dream big, beautiful, dreams about her life. A quilt to remind her of how loved she is. A quilt that she may, this Mama hopes, have with her for many years to come. A quilt that this Mama has yet to finish.
There is more rain forecast later this week and I'm sure the easterlies will return giving us a final blast of cold air off the mountains just to remind us Winter is not done yet. But in these late August days we are getting out there and breathing in the slow unfurling of Spring.
Happy New season to you
Cxo
