Sunday, March 18, 2007

FORSYTHIA!!!!!

For me, the one thing that tells me more than anything else that spring is here is the blooming of the forsythia. It has those bright, sunny yellow blooms, and it grows wildly, riotously. It bursts out in all directions, and cannot be held in. When I hear the expression, "Spring has sprung," the picture that firmly appears in my mind's eye is a joyous forsythia bush, exploding in yellow blossoms. It rebels against the grays and browns of winter. It shouts out in joy. "Winter is ending; life is beginning anew. You are alive, and I am alive, and God is good."

I saw my first forsythia blooms of 2007 on Saturday. I do this little thing that annoys the bejeebers out of the rest of my family for the brief couple of weeks when the forsythia are in bloom. I sing out "For-syth-i-a!" in a way that sounds very much like the Ricola guy. Whenever I do it, they get annoyed, and after two or three days, they'll try to distract me when we're about to drive past a forsythia bush, so I won't sing it. And then yesterday, with Becca in the car, I spotted one of those riotous, joyous yellow shrubs, and I sang out, "For-syth-i-a!" And Becca laughed. She told me that even though it usually annoys her, she had missed it. She'd been waiting for me to spot that particular bush, so that I could sing out with joy at the coming of the spring.

FORSYTHIA! Winter is ending. Life is beginning anew. Birds are nesting, and eggs are incubating, and little baby bunnies are getting ready to be born. You are alive, and I am alive. And God is good. Peace and joy be with you today.