The Warm Blessing of Spring

Harue. def. the warm blessing of Spring.

We have finally decided on a middle name for our little girl. Its pronounced Har-oo-ah and its Japanese. We are not Japanese nor do we have any connection or special history with Japanese culture, go figure. BUT, we have come to the conclusion that the Japanese language sums up all that is in our hearts at this time of year better than any other we've been able to find.

Lately around here you will find us outside, picking up this and that piece of yuck that has been buried all winter in the backyard, raking the peed gravel, moving firewood from here to there and dreaming about the blooms our garden will soon hold. Sunshine is peeking through our curtains to wake us each morning and it is a wonder to hear the birds outside our windows chirping away before we even have a chance to greet one another indoors.

Just a little over a month ago we had an average temperature of 15 degrees F and I couldn't let the girls outside because I thought frostbite would overtake their little cheeks (and I am pretty partial to those little cheeks). Slowly, without my ever realizing it was happening, the earth began to soften, the winds changed, life began to move in small bits around me. I began to warm, from the inside out, like a cup of hot chocolate had permanantly taken up residence in my belly. And today, I am basking in the warm blessing of spring. My daughter is due any day, and as I imagine kissing her face for the first time, tickling her little toes and curling her newborn hair in my fingertips, I imagine it all in the glow of sunshine, among the blessing of this season.