Listen. Smell. Taste. Feel. (by Evelyn Bloom)

Snapshots of Spring in Clearfield County

Old Man Winter yawns, ready for a long nap. The trees that top the mountains have shrugged off their stoles of snow, and in every corner, birds twitter excitedly with the news that Spring is returning at last.

Spring! Spring! The days are lengthening. Robins hop across newly bared lawns, and tiny buds swell on twigs. Do you smell it? Can you feel it? There’s new life in the air. Breathe it in. Soak it up.

Listen. Smell. Taste. Feel.

The blanket of muffling snow has lifted from the land. Nature stirs to the chorus of dripping water, gusty breezes, and frog song. Crisp morning air nips at your senses as you step outside. Hard earth crunches beneath your feet, the silver coating of frost crackling with every step. It is cold, but you huddle in your scarf, secure in the expectation of afternoon warmth.

Light spills over the eastern horizon. Every day, the sun arrives earlier and lingers later. The wild cries of geese sound from above as they fly north, following the coveted warmth. The earth softens, this morning’s frost melting into rich, squelchy mud through which brave snowdrops and crocuses begin to push their spiky leaves. All around, the air vibrates with a new energy. Birds chatter, squabble, and serenade in parking lots, fields, and shrubbery.

In the afternoon, you don your boots and take a walk through the woods. By then, the ground has completely softened, and every step leaves footprints behind in the pillowy earth. A hillside spring bubbles up in your path, forming a glassy trail of ice-cold water in the grass. You cross with a step and a slip to reach drier ground where the thick carpet of last year’s leaves rustle and crunch. Close your eyes. Listen to the birds, the insects, the whispering wind. Take a deep breath. Smell the sharp perfume of the pines and the damp earth. Taste the freshness of the air. Reach out your hands. Feel the wet crystals of a sheltered patch of snow.

Maybe later you will go for a car ride. The vehicle will be hot when you open the doors, radiating the sun’s warmth like a greenhouse, so you’ll shed your coat and roll down the windows to let in the wind. Maybe as you go along, you will hear the putt-putt and roar of a neighbor’s motorcycle brought out of storage for the first optimistic tune-up of the year. Maybe there will be a whiff of turned soil and composting manure from a farm preparing fields for planting. Maybe you will meet good friends taking a drive of their own. Smile and wave as they pass by. Call out a cheerful comment about how Daylight Savings Time is nearly here.

Or maybe this evening it will be foggy with a soaking drizzle. Maybe you’ll stay in after supper, curled up with a cup of Grandma’s earthy sassafras tea to warm your hands while the rain drums on your roof. Tomorrow there may even be a light dusting of snow to greet your eyes, but it will not last for long.

Spring has begun, bringing a return to warmth and light and the promise of new life. Close your eyes and fall under its spell. Listen. Smell. Taste. Feel.