“In just-spring when the world is mud-luscious…”

— e.e. cummings

Do you see it?  Under the newly-revealed leaves of Fall, green grass is beginning to emerge from the muddy soil of Spring.  Close your eyes.  Wiggle your toes and listen to the spongy earth as it squishes and splashes under your feet.  Take a deep breath.  There it is — the aroma of potential!  Once again the year has come full-circle.  Once again the still, stark snow of winter has vanished.  Once again its damp weight has encouraged last year’s vegetation to transform itself into rich new soil.  Like the musk that calls out from one deer to another, the musty scent of nutrient-rich spring soil draws me toward my garden patch and has me dreaming of the rebirth of life.  Soon the seeds that fell last Fall will feel the warmth of Springtime sun.  Then the dance will begin again, as seed and soil and sun and melted snow work their magic deep below the earth until one day a sprout will burst through the surface and  begin its journey toward growth and maturity.

Even as I walk by the creek in just-Spring, the magic already has begun.  The birds know it.  One by one they have begun to return from their wintertime homes in warmer lands and hiding places deep within the evergreen branches.  The woodpeckers beat out the rhythm of Spring as they work for their breakfast on the old maple tree.  The creek rushes past, encouraged to rush by the snow still melting upstream on the mountain.  It runs away from the cold of winter and dances on through the awakening land, leaving green on its banks as the earth bursts with life.

What a mud-luscious day for a walk into Spring!  Close your eyes.  Breathe deeply.  Take in the aroma of life.