The Sights and Sounds of Spring

With me being at home most of the past two weeks for medical reasons, I had the chance to see and hear various signs of spring.

Pretty much regulated to sitting in my recliner for most of the day, it has been interesting to observe what goes on in my neighborhood. (For classic movie fans, I fortunately did not turn into the Jimmy Stewart character in the movie “Rear Window.”)

I did, however, hear birds singing, lawn mowers and weed eaters running, area kids playing basketball in the afternoon and even what became the familiar sound of the mailman arriving around 2 p.m. each day. (Granted, the mailman arriving has nothing to do with spring.)

The recent weather, despite the temporary drop in temperature this week, indicates that spring is here. In fact, the nice blue sky that I saw on Tuesday of this week, combined with the pleasant temperature that day, further dictates that winter is pretty much gone for another year.

I look forward to being able to return to my yard work duties soon and being able to soak up the spring sun in the process. I wasn’t completely homebound during my recent medical situation so often in the afternoons I would sit on my porch and enjoy the warmth of the day.

My parents visited last week and my father spent time in the yard helping me with various things since I was on injured reserve. With the combination of the spring sun and the rain my area received, the yard is starting to come to life. It won’t be long before the grass will need mowing on a weekly basis again, although that is probably more a sign of summer than spring.

High school baseball season continues as our local teams begin to enter the home stretch of their respective regular seasons. Here’s hoping all are able to enjoy more victories during their 2017 campaigns.

That goes for all of our spring sport athletes as well whether they compete in track or tennis or golf or soccer. All of these outdoor sports begin their season in February, which makes for some less than desirable outings for players and parents alike.

Spring has always been associated with a return to life, both symbolically and spiritually for most. We can see that all around us. We see it with the flowers blooming, the grass growing and the birds building nests and even perhaps less than welcome things such as wasps and other stinging and biting creatures.

Still, it’s always nice to have spring with us again. Even with a somewhat mild winter, knowing that the warm of the sun is back is always good for the mind, body and soul.

Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.