Green

Green

• Restoration
• Reassurance
• Environmental awareness
• Equilibrium
• Peace 

I went for a hike today. It was one of those exquisite February days in Oregon when the sun comes out, the earth warms up and the birds sing their hearts out. The whole world seems to heave a sigh of relief—spring will come. Winter won't last forever.

Everywhere I looked I saw green. Fir trees, ferns, moss and ivy—all the evergreens. But there were new buds too. And carpets of new young plants covering the forest forest floor. Daffodils were pushing their points up through the earth. And snowdrops shining in the sun.

February is such an extraordinary time. It's no longer the dead of winter. There's actually sun and warmth. Not the biting cold sun of January, but warmth on your face, a kiss of spring. Yet it is still winter and chilly in the mornings as I watch my breath hang in the air. It's a time when the world starts stirring, getting ready for that burst of energy that is spring.

Spring - such a meaning-laden word. February feels like growing tension on a coil, turning the crank on the Jack-in-the-Box until suddenly it bursts through the door with blossoms and birds and busy-ness.