My Favorite Season Of the Year

Last week I was forced to work in my yard. We had very forceful wind gusts come through St. Louis and one of those gusts knocked over a 40' tree in our backyard. The tree was nearly dead, and I had already decided that it needed to come down sometime this summer. I borrowed a saw and Sam and I cut the tree up, stacked all the wood, and cleaned up the area where the tree had fallen. When I was finished with the tree, I decided to do other spring cleanup. I cut down last year decorative grass stalks, pruned rose bushes and trimmed other plants we have in our back yard.

We all do the annual ritual of clearing away the dead stalks of plants that had their moment of glory and now give way to a new season. Pulling here, pruning there, deciding what to keep and what needs to go. Trying not to prune too much, but making sure each plant and tree will fill out nicely and thinking about new plants to purchase when the time comes.

The one thing I love about this time of year, and the thing that kept distracting me yesterday, was looking at all the bits of green. I love seeing nature wake up. Tiny buds that are just starting to open. Looking at Bradford Pear and Dogwood buds. Right now they are just tiny little balls, waiting for the right time to explode into color. I was even on my roof sweeping off the last of winter debris and saw the first Redbud blossoms about to burst open. I pulled last years dead plants away from all the daffodils and crocus plants, saw the first of those blooms and took a look at my rose bushes. In fact, the picture in the top right corner of this blog are some of the first daffodils of the season. Tiny bits of red and green where beautiful leaves will grow in a few weeks.

I was sore from moving wood and bending over to trim and prune, but my spirit was rejuvenated. Spring has a way of doing that. New life has a way creating a freshness that is renewing. Soon it will be the first day of Spring. This year God has been doing some trimming and pruning in my life, getting me ready for a new season. Thank you, God, for your care for us, and a wonderful reminder of Your life, in us.