Spring Colors – Photo Mark Dumont

For those of us who live in the northern part of the world, this is the time of year when any sign of spring is a more than welcome occurrence in our lives. So when I got up this morning and saw the snow melting and dripping off the structures around the house. The “promised” sun shone for a few minutes then hid behind the clouds again, but I saw it when it wasn’t looking, so I know it’s still there.

This winter has been a hard one for many of us, with huge amounts of snow, sometimes falling in odd areas, adding to our already stressful lives and this is FEBRUARY. A month infamous for misery, blahs, and wanting to just get away from it all.  For those of us who can afford it (both in time and money) a break in sunnier, warmer climes can bring welcome rest and rejuvenation.  For the rest of us it’s time to start looking at what we can do to help ourselves break free of the glumness old man winter imposes on us this time of year.

So think spring, think of all the good things that are coming your way.  Do something nice for yourself it doesn’t have to be anything big and expensive, perhaps it’s just taking a look at  the clothes that have been put away for the last few months and going through them, maybe trying some on and deciding what needs updating with new buttons, or working out what to keep and what to take to the secondhand store.

The last few weeks I’ve enjoyed planning what to do with my garden and now the seeds are in the stores my head is filling with more ideas.  Even going to an annual church book sale made me feel like spring is on its way and of course there were plenty of gardening books with beautiful pictures of containers full of gorgeous brightly colored flowers.

I guess my point is spring is just around the corner and, yes we may get a bit more snow before it gets here, but it is coming, the days are getting longer and the temperatures are beginning to rise, even if only by a few degrees right now.  So get out those summer clothes and dream of green fields, bright summer flowers and long walks on warm summer days.