Spring's late arrival

Yesterday we turned off the furnace and opened the windows to welcome the first day we could--long awaited, it seemed forever ago that we'd smelled the air drifting through the rooms, felt it on our skin, remembered that it will slam the door to the study if strong enough. Only a few months and we have forgotten the habits of warm days, the way we are when the outside moves inside.

(The daffodils are just about ready to bloom...)

Every year I am amazed and joyful at the waking up of the earth, our annual miracle. Yesterday it seemed like the house woke up, too. The slamming door, yes, but also the sheer curtains dancing in the window at the top of the stairs, dust bunnies emerging from under furniture and rolling across the blonde hardwood floors. The sun revealed translucent marks on the countertop where we'd forgotten messes.

This is the best kind of housekeeping: aided by the light and the breeze, welcoming the smell of warm, damp earth into the house. Saying goodbye to winter, sweeping away its sticky, its crumbs, its fluff. Turning to a new day, a new year, a new spring.

May you enjoy spring.
Karen