Laying in the grass in the backyard or a nearby neighborhood park. Eyes half closed watching the shadows of the leaves moving with the breeze on the backs of your eyelids. Seeing the speckled leaves and sky dancing above you. The sun hitting you to warm your skin, this wonderful feeling of "just enough" sun. Perfect after the long chill of winter. Your body finally soaking in the warmth, knowing the cold will be gone for awhile. The breeze coming through to keep you cooled.
The only sounds are rustling leaves, the lawn mower a block over and the airplane droning by 23,000 feet above.
The air is filled with the smell of cut grass and newly planted flowers in freshly tilled earth. The concrete adding a touch of warming rock like desert hardpan.
Those were the days that everything added up in a subtle reminder that Spring was here. Everything was waking up and saying that life was perfect.
I would have those same moments of realization in the house. Mom had opened the windows and doors. Some slight breeze would fluff the lace curtains. The smell of burning incense would strengthen a little as it wafted about. It only took the sound of that distant plane to put that last piece of the puzzle together.
To this day, when the first days of the new year begin to feel warm, without any chill, I have an urge to put the hammock up in the backyard, under the Golden Rain tree. Feel the sun warm me to the depths of my bones, listen to the branches, look at the perfect, blue sky. And wait for the sound of that passing plane to tell me spring is on its way.
Sit back. Close your eyes. Remember the feel and smells of your perfect childhood day.
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere... it's coming... I can feel it right around the corner...
