The Promise of Spring

It’s the middle of March. In most places, people are wondering when the snow will melt. The bears will come out of hibernation, the frogs will thaw out of the ice, and animals will start to forage for food after spending the winter hibernating.

Unless you’re in Miami; in that case, you always see the birds. and the frogs when they jump into swimming pools and struggle to hop outward. Then you have to rescue them with a net, if you have a net, and watch them wriggle away because you can’t communicate that it’s a rescue. That’s always fun and interesting when no net is handy and you have to utilize any stick with a basket you have on hand.

Spring in Miami means the return of Daylight Savings. We lose an hour of time but gain more sunlight. It means the shops carry Easter chocolate and Marshmallow Peeps, and the humidity increases. Swimming becomes more fun, but the days become stickier. Eventually, summer arrives fast on spring’s heels, as does hurricane season. The rains will fall heavily.

At least, we usually get heat. This past week, Miami had its first cold front in March that I can recall. We got a day of freezing cold that dissolved into typical afternoon heat. That was unusual. The sunshine returned, soon enough, but having a day of cold felt unsettling.

In hindsight, the first sign was probably seeing a Mallard and a Muscovy duck together. Mallards are the dark green ducks, for the males, and Muscovies are white ones with red bills and wattles. They never hang out together. But I found these two hanging out. I’m not sure what their story is. But I would like to know what they’re planning.

I hope this spring has more promise of renewal. We need good changes and a fresh start. I know that I need one, a promise of a plan and solid goals for the year. And there needs to be a new story, a better one.