spring and looking forward

A while back I started writing a post. I confessed that I hate winter. The cold, the snow, the short days and endlessly long nights. Hate all of it. I'm made for warmer climes I fear - if I wore more layers I'd not be able to move around, and my teeth are so sensitive that just breathing in cold air makes them hurt. My hips hurt so much more in the cold, plus my asthma gets much worse. The short days get me down, as do the grey skies and grim weather. All in all, winter is not my favourite time of year.

I said that around about Imbolc (the beginning of Feb) is when I start to feel better emotionally, more motivated and less exhausted. I smiled when I walked up to buy some eggs from a friend, and saw the first daffodil leaves starting to poke through some grass. We saw quite a few when we were in London, but somehow it feels more real when they are local daffs ;) the days are noticably longer again - it's not dark at 4pm anymore. Imbolc is traditionally the end of winter and the beginning of spring, and it seems that is the turning point for me.

And then I woke up the next morning and the world was white again. And it got cold again. And I felt the whole point of a "ohh it's getting warmer and it'll be spring soon" post would be a bit lost under several inches of snow. So I didn't bother.

However, I'm back to feeling a bit perkier again now, small children vomiting notwithstanding. It isn't long now until the equinox when the days officially become longer than the nights. I am looking forward to meeting the lambs on our friend's smallholding; to more spring flowers growing in our garden (our crocuses are blooming now!); to planting our seeds and starting to work on our garden improvements. I am looking forward to brushing out all the cobwebs of the winter and the previous year and preparing for the rest of this one. It feels much more like the beginning of a new year than the official new year ever does. I love spring!