Why Bother To Say Good-Bye?

Whether you knew it or not, Friday marked the last sunset of winter and Saturday, the spring equinox, brought forth the first day of spring. Friday night I said my official good-by to the dark, nippy and bitter season of winter and I was none too sad. 

Farewell

Though warmer temperatures happen gradually, I cleaned out my bedroom closet in a gleeful flurry removing sweater dresses and wool skirts from their hangers and piled them onto the bed. Next, I opened my sock drawer and tossed out my collection of brown, blue and black tights along with the heavy wool socks I use as winter slippers. Scooping up the heavy heap of cold weather clothing, I slowly descended the stairs to the basement.

My clothes closet is too small to hold more than one season of clothing at a time, so I keep a good sized chest in the basement to hold each season’s apparel. It is always a pleasant surprise for me to open this chest and pull from it, a new batch of clothing, especially spring and summer wear. The colors alone cause me to smile. I shake out the wrinkles from yellow, blue, and orange cotton shirts and skirts, and stack up my bounty of brighter and lighter weight outfits. Then I dump into their place, the lackluster tan, brown and black wool skirts, sweaters and socks. Picking up the lightsome load of clothes, I take two steps at a time coming up the basement stairs. With a sunny disposition, I hang up my spring wardrobe. 

But exchanging winter wear for spring wear is not the only rearranging that spring spurs inside of me. Saying good-bye to the dark and frigid season of winter means opening up to the new one with all its freshness, renewal and new ideas. 

In the spring, I’m naturally pulled by the  warmer air to stay outside longer. The sunlight convinces me to sit on the deck and read instead of huddling inside on the couch. The longer amount of light in the day tells me I have time to brush the dust off my bicycle seat and go for a spin instead of plugging in a movie. I keep my eyes open for the showy tulips, daffodils and crocus that will soon pop up around the neighborhood and anticipate the appearance of tiny green buds on my lilac bushes.

Unlike the darker season of winter, spring brings more light, warmer air and an invigorating energy. It calls out for us to take off the heaviness we’ve been wearing and exchange it for the lightness that spring brings. 

Why bother to say good-by to winter? It is worth saying good-bye to the old season so we can say hello to the new one.