|
Written by Lori Welch
|
Green! Sprouts! Buds! Blossoms! Birds chirping! Earth worms! Tulips! Colors that aren’t gray or white or shades of gray and white! Cotton jackets vs. parkas! Daylight past 5:00 p.m.! Mowing grass vs. shoveling snow! Say it’s so! Spring is just around the corner. Yes, ladies and gentleman, March 20th marks the arrival of spring in all of its glorious splendor. Hip, hip, hooray! Two, four, six, eight, what do we appreciate? S-P-R-I-N-G! It almost feels too good to be true at this point. I refuse to believe it until the first robin crosses my path. It’s been so long, it almost feels like a tease. Sure—spring’s coming. Sure it is. I’m not falling for that one. I’m not parting company with my snow shovel just because some calendar says March 20th is the first day of spring. Heck it was just days ago that I was digging out my SUV from under a glacier that had overtaken Del Ray.
But…..what if? What if spring is just around the corner? What will I do? What did I used to do before salting and shoveling became an Olympic sport on my block? Speaking of Olympics, what was Evan Lysacek thinking with that outfit? Even a sequined cobra can’t “man up” a figure skating outfit. Also - speaking of fashion - what did I used to wear before black ski pants became my fashion go-to item? Do these ski pants make my butt look big? I can see why Michael Jackson liked his glove. I haven’t had to get a manicure since November. Can I toss my rubber snow boots back into the closet and break out my beloved Tori Burch sandals? Did someone say temps rising to 40? OMG—where are my shorts? OMG—where’s my razor? Okay—so the grooming got a little lax. Cut a girl some slack.
Fire up the grill. Bust out the BBQ sauce. Ice down the brewskis. Dust off the tiki torches. We’re gonna party like its 1999! The possibilities are endless—and that’s the beauty of spring. We get to start using words like hope, growth, sunshine, and renewal. Spring is a fresh start after the death of winter. It’s nature’s way of waking up the universe after a long sleep. We wake up energized and ready to take on the world. We’re ready to lace up our running shoes and hit the trail. Oh, Nikes—where for art thou? We’re ready to break out the hose and wash our salty cars. We can start pulling out the garden tools, digging up our little piece of earth and planting things with the hope that they’ll soon bloom. We’re ready to meet new people and socialize with old friends we haven’t seen since Labor Day. Life is good.
Spring’s vibrant smell and the sun’s bright rays energize us. Thank goodness. I was beginning to think I had turned into Sleeping Beauty. Nothing’s better than climbing under the covers on a cold winter’s day vowing not to awaken until your fairytale prince’s lips touch yours. Ahhh, a girl can dream. Alas, it was the P90X infomercial that finally woke me from my deep slumber. For the record, nothing is more annoying than waking up to six-pack abs practically poking fun at you from the TV. If you didn’t awaken from your slumber with chiseled biceps and a decreased BMI, it’s okay. Winter is for resting. I have to remind myself of that too. Life is about cycles and seasons. During winter, we’re supposed to stay in and nurture ourselves. Those bears know what they’re doing! We’re supposed to crawl into our caves and rest so we can re-emerge energized in the spring.
I realize it’s a hard concept to grasp, especially if you’re used to running on DC time. We Washingtonians pride ourselves on producing. We’re nothing if we’re not furiously producing more than our neighbors. Our standard greeting is, “Hi—don’t have time to talk because I’m super busy producing more than my neighbors.” Our favorite vacations involve beachside Blackberries and funky European internet cafes. We experience our own internal global warming when Mother Nature forces a slow down via back-to-back blizzards. That witch! Doesn’t she know how important we all are? Hopefully you took her hint and didn’t spend your snow days re-lining your kitchen cabinets and/or cursing yourself because you didn’t. Snow days are supposed to be spent analyzing your belly button and watching Lifetime TV. Snow days are God’s way of imparting gifts on you such as the Lifetime Vixens We Love to Hate marathon or back-to-back episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County.
So hopefully, you’re awakening from your cocoon rested and ready to tackle the world or at least ready to trade in the remote control for your running gear. And remember—spring is nature’s training ground for summer. Summer? Can it be? Summer oh glorious summer!
Lori Welch is the owner of JCL Services, Ltd. JCL is the area’s premier personal concierge and professional organizing company serving clients in DC/MD/VA since 2001. JCL was recently voted the area’s Best Concierge and Closet Organizer by Northern Virginia magazine. www.jclservicesltd.com |
|
|
|
|
