The other day Ben was scrolling through all of these noises on a sleep machine application for his iphone. There was the white noise, jungle, rain, etc. He settled on one that created the imagery of a perfect day: a slight white/traffic noise in the background with an occasional bird chirping, etc. It made me think of a beautiful sunny day at the park in the early spring.
Today, it was that day. The wind was blowing a cool breeze, the ground was slightly damp, the sun was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds. I found my stress evaporating, the knot between my shoulders relaxing. Birds seemed to come out of the thin air, perching near by in small flocks, occasionally startled to flight in an impossible air ballet as they twirled in perfect synchronization. Their bodies were a monochromatic rainbow in the sun. I breathed in deeply, the warm air a pleasant change to my insides.
Life calls. I went inside to unload groceries and give Summit a snack. Outside my back door several birds had found the biscuits that had been thrown outside last night ’cause they needed to eat too. They squabbled and bickered, occasionally flying to a low branch that miraculous escaped the ice to scold from afar. My cats were crouched just under the window in the door, occasionally popping an eyeball over the top to better see their prey. The mewed quickly in their quiet hunter noise they make on the prowl.
Summit crawled over and pulled their tails and they were brought back to the sad reality that they are not lions hunting in the Sahara, but just simple house cats with a pane of glass to stare at the outside world through.
Usually I hate the spring. I hate the muggy warmness and allergens. I hate the promise of a hot, stale summer and the wait for fall. But now, the breath of life it awoke in me today makes me yearn for the green, the new life growing from all of the death and decay all around me.