SPRING EQUINOX

This is the first day of Spring and these were the early signs of what it should look like. Cherry blossoms in bloom.

But this is what it looked like today. Somewhat barren and cold. Spring is here! Why doesn't my heart go dancing?
I had to go downtown to my Memoir group this morning. It was cold, raining and I have come down with a nasty chest cold and cough.
It didn't seem much like the Springtimes I recall from the past. Yet, we on the coast are lucky. Back East they are still up to their armpits in snow!

Today we were writing about the first day of Spring. And this is what I wrote:

On this first day of Spring 2008, I'm longing for sunshine and warmth but instead there's a chill in the air and it's been raining, the skies a gloomy grey. Springtime has always been a time of renewal for me -- as a child livingint he East, it meant shedding the snow suits, bring out the new Spring wardrobe -- quite often made by my mother who was an expert seamstress. I recall skipping down the street in a dreww and cardigan, wearing knee socks instead of those long cotton leotards. Spring broughtout the skipping ropes, jacks, bolo-bats and marbles. Today, it's bringing out th eumbrellas -- again!

There are flowers blooming in some gardens -- the usual crocus and daffs that herald the Spring. The cherry blossoms are just beginnng to bloom and I've seen new leaves sprouting on tree branches. Still, it doesn't seem very "spring-like". Rain here, snow in the East. Spring must be near though as I've heard song birds trilling and usually the birds know when it's time to start nesting (even though the trees are still bare.)

I'm still wearing my winter coat and my wardrobe seems drab and somewhat threadbare. Perhaps if I replentish it, I'd feel more like I did in those choldhood days when I went off to school or to the park on Easter Sunday dolled up in my fancy new Spring clothes. Perhaps if I did some "Spring cleaning" of my house and wardrobek, I'd capture the real spirit of the season. The calendar says Mrch 20th, "Spring Equinox" and it can't be wrong. But to me, Spring still seems a long way off!