Spring!

When Husband and I were living at the equator and in the tropics, the thing we missed the most were the seasons. When the weather is essentially the same everyday and the sun rises and sets at the same time everyday, it starts to grate on you. At least it did on us. We found it oddly disconcerting and noticed that we'd forget a month had gone by, just because all the days were the same. 

In December, we moved to New York, just in time for the very beginning of the Winter season. When we got off the plane at 5 in the morning, and stood outside waiting for a cab, the weather was all of 19 degrees Fahrenheit. By the time we got a cab, I had a long list of things to knit before next Winter.

Still, we loved the snow, that quiet that descends when it falls, and that feeling of magic, when you wake up early to see everything white - before anyone has gone outside to walk their dog or plow a street. It's still one of my favorite moments in life to look out the window after a snow storm or blizzard. 

While New Yorkers around us complained about the weather, Husband and I glowed, layered in sweaters, wool socks and boots. We soon noticed that New Yorkers didn't really appreciate our appreciation of the weather, and that we were better off keeping our seasonal jubilation to ourselves.

Then on March 1st, I decided I was done with Winter. I was ready for Spring. I planted vegetable seeds in pots along our indoor windowsill for our outdoor summer raised beds. I started knitting baby sweaters. I started writing new stories. And I started baking. I thought I was celebrating Spring and all it represented in new beginnings: a new home in a new city, new projects, new recipes to try, new libraries and museums to explore, a new baby on the way...

Really, my husband pointed out, it was just pregnancy nesting hormones finally kicking in. It took the weather six weeks to catch up with my declaration of Spring's arrival. But this week, all the trees look like this:

The weather is still getting used to the idea - I moved some of my seeds outside a tad too early and they drowned in a rainstorm or two. But we've had some gorgeous days. On one of them, we drove up to Beacon to see the Richard Serra sculptures at the Dia: Beacon museum. My son found the weather too enchanting to be inside, however, so he and I spent some time outside watching trains go by.