What passes for winter is slowly letting go of New Orleans and spring is coming earlier here than it does in the northern state that I grew up in. It's warm today, so I went for a walk in short sleeves and still managed to work a bead of sweat on by brow. I walk fast, wearing headphones, listening to music (lately I've been stuck on Saltillo, particularly A hair on the head of John the Baptist ) looking around at the world without lingering on the faces in it. Sometimes people will tell me after the fact that they've seen me blur past them, unable to get my attention while I've been on these afternoon walks and in my excitement for this fair weather I'm sure that I'll give good cause for these comments today.
I can smell the spring in the air. I can smell the difference in the scent of the rain, smell the old wood swelling in my old apartment, smell the earth renewing it's offerings of annuals & perennials. I can smell the plaster and paint relax after the brief period of cold.
I opened the floor to ceiling windows in my office and saw a tiny green lizard wander inside a few steps before retreating. He took a fly that hadn't fared the winter so well on his way back into the sun and soaked up the last few remaining rays before it started raining.
Today I'm that little green lizard, taking the spring before it's time, soaking up the warmth and the sun, because that's what we are meant to do after the winter passes.
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