A Spring Love Affair
Apr 03, 2023Love is in the air...it’s undeniable and surprising and electrifying. Spring comes bearing gifts in many forms!
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She’s here...spring has sprung in the Hudson Valley. Do you feel her, smell her, sense her, see her? It’s hard not to get a little giddy in her presence — it’s honestly like falling in love. You know that jumpy feeling of being awakened. Suddenly you are seeing the world through a new lens. For me, it is like falling in love with LIFE again.
Yes, love is in the air. Are you ‘twitterpated’? (No, I’m not talking about a social media platform, I’m talking about my beloved Bambi, Walt Disney’s 1942 animated film — watch a video clip HERE.)
You might think this is silly, but it’s true. None of us is immune to spring’s magical spell. There’s a reason that April is named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty and passion — she’s a seductress alright. Mother Nature doesn’t make mistakes. In fact, her timing is impeccable.
How else can you describe that surge of energy you suddenly feel after a cold, dark winter of hibernation?
That first sight of those sweet little crocuses popping through the dirt, peeking through piles of leaves and remnants of snow, sends a surge of hope throughout our cells. It’s contagious.
Just the other day, though the air was brisk and cool, the sun was shining brightly, reminding me she has returned yet again to embrace us in her warmth, to heat the earth, to stir the wildlife and the flowers and foliage from their slumber. Wake up she whispers, come out and play...
It’s kind of shocking how dazzled we are each year by her arrival and the ensuing transformation — as if it had never happened before — but simply put, it is quite an undeniable spectacle. The crocus and daffodils are the harbingers, but everyone and everything seems to get in line. The birds are chirping and fluttering about, busy assembling new nests. The pavements in our little town are lined with people. She’s luring us all.
Something stirs within each of us. Spring Equinox followed by a new moon puts a lot of energy into the air. The clocks change, the days lengthen...but I’m not quite sure I’m ready to come out yet. It takes adjusting, unpeeling of layers of clothing, movement, stretching, reconnecting, adjusting.
And yet, I trust her and lean in and take her hand. It is time to come alive again — to bloom and blossom, to get outside more, to be more social, to notice and appreciate more.
Shifts in our natural world promote shifts in our emotional and spiritual world too. Do you feel it? Why not follow it, fill your heart with wonder and possibility — harness this energy.
Yes, my heart feels twitterpated for so much — this sweet mountain town in all of its incarnations, you my beautiful community, our gorgeous café family, health, nourishing food and thirst for more of life’s adventure and expansion.
In a complicated time in our world, a time of divisiveness and contention, try stepping away. Take a moment to stop, stand still, turn off the noise (in your own head and with your electronic devices), ground yourself, raise your face to the sun, close your eyes, breathe deep restorative breaths and allow yourself to fall in love with life too.
For you, it may be planting a garden, spring cleaning your house, falling in love with a person, creating something of beauty, embarking on a new adventure...or all of it.
What is your love language? When you close your eyes...what do you dream of, what gets your heart beating a little faster? More of that please!
Happy Spring fever beauties!
—Lea Haas, Owner, The Garden Cafe Woodstock
