Monday, March 20, 2006
I know that spring is a very strong metaphor in our hearts and minds, but does a high of 28 with occasional snow showers look like a warm transformation to you? April showers may bring May flowers, but March snow showers mainly bring out shovels.
But then spring is all relative. Maybe people in Edmonton or Yellowknife or Anchorage envy temperatures in the high 20s this time of year, and the 40-degree readings that would please our area would be considered a chilly March in Atlanta, Tuscon or Los Angeles.
While the weather won't cooperate, today is the first day back from spring break so students walking around with tans -- while seemingly out of place -- at least remind us there are sunny, sandy and snow-free beaches somewhere. After last week's all-but-deserted campus, having the place teeming with life again energizes us all at least a little.
Spring, in the metaphorical sense, is not about numbers on a thermometer. It's about an intangible reading within ourselves. It's about anticipating that tomorrow will be better (as 34 degrees is an improvement over 28). It's about embracing some kind of rebirth, of shaking off the cold, the slumber, the immobility to move forward. It's about getting outdoors as well as outside our physical, mental and psychological confinements and limitations.
This would, of course, all come easier with good weather. But future projections are not limited to the ones on weather.com, as we all chart our personal forecasts day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. If we don't see spring, that shouldn't keep us from trying to find it in some way.
For me, this meant driving to the mud lots past the west end of campus. At great risk to a perfectly good pair of khakis, I stumbled down a steep bank and through a small thicket to visit Lake Ontario's rocky shore. The water looked grey and choppy, a large layer of ice still ringed the shoreline and a cold breeze danced about my head. But I could feel something in the air. Spring.
posted by Tim 7:47 PM
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