That Rite of Spring

I often wonder if my partiality to this season is because I was born in mid-April. Whatever the reason, there is something very vital, rejuvenating, invigorating to me about Spring. It is indeed the time of new beginnings.

Few activities symbolize Spring more than putting a garden in, something that tends to occur in May in this northern clime. I like the whole process. Adding the previous year’s compost to the garden plot and tilling it in. Buying the seeds or starter plants. Plotting the layout. Smoothing out, then mounding the soil. Putting additives (or not, depending on how organic you prefer to go). Planting the seeds or the starter plants. Staking and stringing. Watering. Then taking in with your eyes what your hands have wrought.

I love kneeling in the dirt (though that gets harder with age) and feeling the dirt with my hands (gloves withhold some of the pleasure for me), the warm sun casting an approving glow on the scene. “Dirt” itself has much of life in it, especially soil that is healthy… the myriads of microorganisms as well as that great visible sign of organic health, the earthworm.

I’ve been putting in gardens lately and also creating some landscape where there had been only the rudiments of suburban yardage. I sense in all this activity something very productive – the created expressing something of the image of the Creator. Long live Spring!