sunshine and lavender

I close my eyes, because the sun is so bright. I like it that way. My legs are bare and the grass tickles my skin as I stretch them out fully. I rest one arm above my head where my dark hair, already warmed by the sun, spreads out on the grass. In my other hand I hold a sprig of lavender, plucked only moments before, and I play absentmindedly with it as I lay there, brushing it past my nose so I can catch the scent. I think to myself "hmm, I'm actually laying in the grass. when was the last time I did that?" and then I don't think anymore. I just lay there, the sun on my face, the fragrance of lavender lingering on my fingertips, an ant crawling across my toe...

Somewhere nearby a bird chirps, and the pleasant noise of Emma and Annabelle playing together drifts through the yard. Rosalie crawls bravely across the grass (she usually hates it), her cries of delight causing me to open my eyes, lift my head and look. She is headed for a puddle, and I choose to intervene.

So ends my reverie. But I don't mind, for there is a picnic to be had, with two little girls giggling as they eat their sandwiches and goldfishies, which of course will taste much better than they do if you eat them inside. We did our schoolwork outside too, because it is infinitely more delightful to learn of subtraction and long vowels when one is bathed in friendly sunshine and soft breezes.

These are the days. The days of windows and doors thrown open wide to welcome those soft breezes and that friendly sunshine, and the sound of the twittering of the birds who gather in our yard to eat my cat's food. (I don't mind, as long as they sing for their supper.) The days of blooms and blossoms and green growing things... soft-petaled roses and sweet jasmine, petite blue flowers and frilly white daffodils.


The days of bare arms and legs, attached to two small girls who fly happily through the grass, glad to be outside in the pleasant world where they and their imaginations can run free. Days of tangled curls that blow in their smiling faces and get wilder as the day goes on, of chalk-covered fingers and knees, bare feet and dirty toes. And freckles, freckles that sprinkle themselves across Emma's sun-kissed nose and cheeks-- a new one every minute, it seems.



Days of color and life, vibrant and full, rich with blessings and everywhere reminders of God's goodness no matter what. 

Hello, oh happy spring. And welcome.

what's your favorite thing about spring?