The Hope of Spring

When Andrew was 4, he attended what was then called "nursery school" on weekday mornings. One memorable day he emerged at pick-up time bearing a sheet of pale blue construction paper on which there were some random brown vertical lines and on them bits of yellow tissue paper had been scrunched and pasted down. "This," he told me proudly, "is for-this-ee-ah." And I've always thought of it that way since.

It's not even two weeks since Groundhog Day, but the hope of spring is evident if I just look hard enough . . .

. . . at the for-this-ee-ah that Himself clipped and stuck in a vase on the kitchen counter last week. How welcome those wee yellow blooms were when they appeared yesterday morning!
. . . three of the prime real estate offerings in our bird house ghetto are occupied and two more may be under contract pending final negotiations. I was delighted to see three little heads peer out of me as I went to get in my car, and two more perched on roofs.
. . . daffodil shoots are now a couple of inches visible out back.
. . . five o'clock comes and goes and there is still daylight.

It's coming.



Comments

AnnieO said…
I love for-this-ee-ah but don’t think it grows here. We are having some “winter” weather in SoCal but that only means low 60s in the daytime. It’s nice to see the sun above the horizon still when leaving work after 5 now, I agree. Almost enough time to drive down to see a beach sunset...
Barbara Anne said…
Our for-this-ee-ah hedge is beginning to show a tad of yellow, too, and how sweet and welcome it is! It was brilliant of your son's teacher to teach him how to correctly pronounce 'forsythia'. :)

When our younger son was four, he came to me saying he had fallen and his kidneys hurt. It took a moment for me to realize he was telling me that his kid knees hurt! This nurse-mom was happy for a teachable moment to sympathize with the hurt knees and to teach where the kidneys are actually located and a simplified explanation of their function.

There is/was a wonderful children's book titled The King Rained that shows where some words take a child's imagination!

Hugs!
Janet O. said…
What a cute story. :)
I am concerned about all the plants that think spring is here. We can get snow into May, but the unusually warm winter has fooled the plants. Our fruit growers can't afford to lose their crops to a late frost, and I am sad when my lilac bushes are budding and then get frozen (though it isn't critical). What wacky weather we are having--but I haven't seen the forsythia in bloom--yet.
Quiltdivajulie said…
We have buds on the daffodils (not time to bloom yet but the buds are formed). And I love the longer bits of daylight. No forsythia just yet -- but I haven't driven into mid-town yet and they are typically the earliest.
LoieJ said…
Hmmm, that is sure a reminder of how much colder northern MN is than Philly. We have for this is but the deer always eat the branches completely. But if I see any uneaten branches, I'll try them in a vase. I guess this works with pussy willows too.