The Signs Of Spring
This
week, after warm winds and bright sun
had melted the snow and ice
from
driveways and sidewalks,
and we had begun to wonder if it was time
to
put away the boots
and the heavy coats
and the warm gloves
and get ready
to enjoy spring,
the east wind came roaring in
and brought us snow
and
ice
and sleet
and freezing
rain.
February reminded us
that winter has still a month to run,
even
by our caldendar.
But despite the snow
and
the ice
and the freezing rain,
something
is happening out there.
Beneath the snow bank
and
along the horizon
are the unmistakable signs
that
something is happening out there,
something
ordinary and common
and wonderful.
Spring is coming!
It
really is, you know!
Spring is coming!
"Set
your watch," the weather said.
"See those doings up ahead--
stirrings
in the crocus bed,
bluebirds on the wing,
sun a ball
of golden thread,
maple tips a-swelling red.
"Set your watch," the weather
said,
"half a tick to spring!"
Spring doesn't come all at once,
as
if someone somewhere turned
on a switch.
Spring comes a little at a time,
sneaking up on us, day by day,
changing
the world, little by little,
until a miracle has occurred.
Springs
takes a cold, dark world
where few things grow,
a gray and white
world
where ice and snow cover the ground,
and changes it, bit by bit,
into
a green and tender place
where everything is alive and buzzing.
Spring
sneaks up on us,
but if we know where to look,
what to watch for,
we discover the signs of
spring are everywhere,
for spring, sneaky spring,
hiding behind every bush
and tree,
likes to be found.
The winds of March were sleeping.
I
hardly felt a thing.
The trees were
standing quietly.
It didn't seem like spring.
Then
suddenly the winds awoke
And raced across the
sky.
They bumped right into April
Splashing
springtime in my eye.
Last
week, we asked the children
what are the signs of spring,
how
can you tell that spring is coming.
This
is what they told us:
You can
tell that spring is coming,
by the light.
The
days grow longer,
the air is warmer.
The
sun rises further to the
north;
there is more sunlight everywhere.
And
they are right.
Sitting at breakfast, one morning
Suddenly
the sun was shining in my eyes.
It had not been shining in my eyes
like that
for many months.
The sun has moved north,
and I have adjusted
my window shade,
and that is a sign of spring.
There is another sign
of spring at my house.
My little, black dog,
who spent winter mornings
sleeping
on a couch in the
weak rays of the winter sun,
now sleeps in the sun in a chair on the other
side of the room.
The sun has moved north;
and he has moved with it.
Watch
the dog: he knows the signs of spring.
(place sun-bursts on the
tree)
We asked the children,
how can you
tell that spring is coming?
and this is what they told us.
Watch
the snow:
it
turns black and sooty
and
slowly slips away,
down gutters
and
into storm sewers,
melting into water
and
making puddles everywhere.
Watch your step across
the field,
hop from stone to stone.
The only crop these acres yield
is
mud, and mud alone.
Now that frost is in retreat,
not a spot is
dry.
March wears wet and muddy feet . . .
and (squish, squish!) so do I.
Watch
for rain:
more
and more it rains
and the cold rains become warmer
and there is water everywhere,
even,
sometimes, where you don't want it:
in basments,
and leaking
through roofs,
and flooding fields and towns,
and in your eyes
and
in your shoes
and down your neck,
water everywhere.
I
opened my eyes
And looked up at the rain,
And it dripped in head
And flowed
into my brain,
And
all that I hear as I lie in my bed
Is the slishity-slosh
of the rain in my head.
I step
very softly,
I walk very slow,
I
can't do a handstand--
I might overflow,
So
pardon the wild crazy thing I just said--
I'm just
not the same since there's rain in my head.
(place
rain-symbols
on the tree)
Water everwhere
melting
snow and falling rain
sink into the
ground,
making the earth soft,
touching
seeds dropped to the ground last autumn,
waking roots of trees
and shrubs and grass,
seeping into nuts burried and forgotten
by squirrels,
and things begin to respond
to
the touch of water
and sun.
One of these windy mornings
Janie
and I will go
Over the dingy meadow,
Over the crusty snow,
Down to
the woods where the pines grow tall
And the rabbits hide by the old stone wall.
We'll
look for a sheltered hollow
Under some spreading tree,
And there,
in the leaf-brown darkness,
The deep, soft-breathing darkness,
What
do you think we'll see!
The slender blade of a jonquil
Thrusting out
of the mold--
Though ice is
still on the river
And the clear, bright air is cold--
But Janie and I are
both aware
Of why it's standing so boldly there:
For it's a promise of
April
The Lady of Spring designed
And planted there on purpose,
On special,
special purpose,
On most particular purpose
For Janie and me to find!"
(place
some flowers on the tree)
What
are the signs of spring?
Watch for colors, said the
children,
watch
for green and yellow and red.
Here and there,
as
the snow retreats,
the grass begins to show
through
and it is green!
Off in the distance,
the willow tree
has a yellow-green shadow around it,
and
the maple tree has a red halo,
a
clear sign that leaves are ready
to break open to the sun.
The
forsythia
is all knobby,
and each little knob is a place
where
a yellow flower is waiting.
The pussy-willow
is fuzzy with little, soft kittens.
Watch for the colors!
(place
leaves on the tree)
What are the
signs of spring, we asked.
Spring, said the children, smells different,
a
soft, rich smell,
the smell of earth cracking open
and green things reaching
up toward the sun,
all
kinds of things--
flowers and skunk cabbage
and poison ivy and violets
and dandelions
and crocuses and snowdrops.
Spring, said the children,
is
the green smell of the earth
becoming alive.
(place flowers
on the tree)
What are the signs of spring, we asked.
Spring,
said the children, is a sound:
the
sound of birds gathering
and singing,
of
geese high overhead
and
crows in the tops of trees,
and robins and
cardinals and blue jays
sparrows and wrens and woodpeckers
all
calling to each other,
singing the
news
that spring is coming.
A meadow lark
came back one day
and searched beneath the faded hay
out in the rocks, beside
a cleft,
to find a song that he had left.
He found it. And he
tried it out.
He tossed the
melody about,
and not a note was hurt a bit
by winter drifting over it.
(place
birds on the tree)
What are the signs of spring?
Things
begin to stir, said the children.
The
sun and the rain and the warm breezes
stir things
to new life.
In sunny windows
wasps
slowly stretch their wings
and walk about like sleep walkers
in the new light.
Flys
begin to stir and to buz,
creatures trapped
by the winter cold
break out of the ground.
Ants
appear, scurrying across the path
and pink earthworms
squirm on the damp earth,
Butterflies who went to sleep
as caterpillers
wake up and shake out their wings
and
float away on the spring breeze
like a beautiful
dream.
Mites
and midges and mayflies and mosquitos
dance in the
sunlight.
And someplaces, the sound of tree frogs are heard
singing
in the night the coming of spring.
(
place butterflys, etc. on the tree)
How
do you know that spring is coming.
We
can tell, said the children, in our own beings.
The
jackets we wore
because of the morning chill,
we discard in the afternoon
sun.
We look through our closets for short-sleeved shirts,
and
wonder if last year's shorts will still fit us.
Now
we can be out doors
to play baseball
to
jump rope,
to skateboard and roller skate,
to
play soccer,
to ride bikes,
to
fly kites
to
watch them dance and sway and dip
in the
March breezes.
How bright on the blue
Is
a kite when it's new!
With a dive and
a dip
It snaps its tail
Then soars like a ship
With only a sail
As
over tides
Of wind it rides,
Climbs to the crest
Of a gust
and pulls,
Then seems to rest
As wind falls.
When string goes
slack
You wind it back
And
run until
A new breeze blows
And its wings fill
And up it goes!
How
bright on the blue
Is a kite when it's new!
But a raggeder
thing
You never will see
When it flaps on a string
In the top
of a tree.
(place kites, bikes, etc on tree)
How can you
tell that spring is coming?
What are the signs of spring?
Our children
said,
The dog begins to shed its winter coat,
leaving spare parts all over
the house,
and we being
to think of vacation,
and the opening of the swimming pool
and surfing in
California.
Something wonderful is happening
out
there, in the world,
and in here, in our own minds,
something
wonderful
than snow and ice and
freezing rain
cannot stop.
The signs
are all there
if you know where to look,
if
you know how to pay attention.
The
sings are all there,
and the signs
all say,
"Spring is coming.
And
all the world--
ourselves included--
is
getting ready
for a little spring cleaning!
SERVICE
OF COMMUNION:
To help you get ready for spring,
to put you in the right mood, the ushers are now going to give each of you a small
packet. In that packet are
several small, miracles. They don't look like much, but inside each of them
is all the knowedge, all the information it takes to build a green and living plant.
If these small miracles are planted at the right time and in the right place,
and if they are watered and receive sunlight, they will split and send roots
down into the earth and send leave up into the air. And the leaves will combine
sunlight and carbon dioxide and grow and give off oxygen and in time, if
everything works right, out of
this tiny seed will come a flower.
Think about that miracle. In your hands
you hold small bits of life. They don't look alive, but they are. In those
little seeds is all the information needed to make a flower.
How does
it know,
this little seed,
if its to grow
to a flower or weed,
if it
is to be
a vine or shoot,
or grow to a tree
with a long deep root?
A
seed is so small
Where do you suppose
it stores up all
of the things
it knows?
--Aileen Fisher
How
it knows what it knows, I cannot say. But this is what it knows.
It knows how to make out of water and sunlight and earth and time, this flower.
Take the seeds home with, plant them, care for them, and watch the miracle
happen.
CLOSING WORDS:
Something is happening, out there.
Something
ordinary and common
and wonderful.
A miracle is happening
in
the world around
and deep inside us!
The miracle is spring!