Spring has Sprung

I’ve been blessed to have gotten in several rides this week and have definitely noticed that Spring is truly arriving! We had to mow the entire yard last weekend for the first time this season, although I’d previously done a few high spots. This can mean the beginning of a hazardous time as we ride. So many people just don’t understand how unsafe it is for those of us who ride when they cut the grass and allow it to shoot out into the road. I try to ride around it when I can, but it’s just not possible so often due to oncoming traffic. In those situations we have to just hold on and be prepared the best we can to go through it safely. Be careful out there and plan ahead if you see it in the road so you don’t have to put on brakes while you’re on the clippings, it can be quite slippery especially if it’s wet.

There have been some other signs of Spring as well. The pink, white, yellow, purple and red flowers of the trees and bushes scattered in the woods and yards along the roads have been absolutely gorgeous and are great reminders of new life. Winter can get somewhat depressing with the rain, snow, wind and lack of color, but then Spring arrives and you can’t help but feel alive. It seems to awaken all the senses so much more. The smells of Spring are undoubtedly here as well. In the area of the country I live in there is one smell I assure you I could do without! As hubby and I returned from the beach a few weeks ago we knew we were close to home based solely on the aroma.

I love some dark turkey meat as much as the next person but oh my the results of raising turkeys in this area are obvious. I can handle the smell of cow, horse, duck, and even hog manure, but turkey? There’s just something different and unique about it that’s just not the least bit pleasing to the senses. When they start spreading it on the fields there’s no mistaking it and as large an area as is done at a time, there’s no way to hold your breath until you get by it either most of the time. You would think knowing this, I would avoid driving by fields that I know have recently been done, but after not dealing with it all winter while I rode I forget, until it’s too late. I try to make a mental note of which ones have been done so I can avoid them for a little while, but often I get so relaxed and in a zone when I ride that I mistakenly have a memory lapse.

Speaking of turkeys, I came across a hen in the road the other day on one of my rides and I now understand why some people use the term “turkey” to refer to a person who is silly. The hen was almost across the road but I slowed down as I proceeded just to be safe. Shortly before I got to her, I guess she decided she would go back across where she just came from but stopped in the middle of my lane. I spoke to her, nicely, as I approached and she thankfully went back to the side of the road and I didn’t have to completely stop for her.

Some other beautiful signs of Spring are much more pleasing to experience than the previously discussed aroma. There are tulips, daffodils, forsythias and other flowers and bushes blooming in addition to the trees and they add a magnificent array of colors to the scenery. There’s the smell of freshly cut grass and wild onions and the appearance of more children who are able to play outside because the ground is drier now.

I’ve seen hammocks hung between trees, mulch or pine straw being put out for fresh landscaping, new gravel being spread to repair winter damage to driveways and children swinging at the parks/schools. There have been more boats in the river and lakes and people fishing along the shore as well. The signs of Spring are everywhere!

As I was thinking about all of the obvious signs of Spring a song by 4Him kept popping into my head and I was singing part of it over and over in my mind:

“The signs are obvious, they are everywhere
All that we hear about is the gloom and despair, too many would-be prophets sayin’, ‘It’s the end of it all‘
Cause mother earth can’t take much more.”

This seems so true right now. If you watch or listen to the news it seems all they want to report on is gloom and despair and things that are simply depressing and cause division. I choose not to listen or watch because of all the negativity. I know there are still good people doing good things and I will continue to look for that instead.

The chorus of the song is more my idea of what we need to do:

“So I won’t bend and I won’t break and I won’t water down my faith
I won’t compromise in a world of desperation
What has been I cannot change, but for tomorrow and today
I must be a light for future generations.”

I will continue to ride, look for the beauty that abounds and think positive thoughts!