Happy Spring!

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another.
The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.
~ Henry Van Dyke

My girlfriend is visiting Ottawa, Canada right now. She’s a hockey grandma for two weeks, looking after her grandchildren, one of whom is playing in the boys’ novice hockey league playoffs this week. She wrote me yesterday, shaking and shivering over the January-like weather they are experiencing. “When the hockey rink is warmer than being outside, you know it’s cold!” Brrrrr, what happened to spring? She can’t wait to get back to the west coast where the cherry blossoms and camellias are blooming.

Here in the Victoria area, the municipalities and citizens spent the first week of March running around town, counting blossoms. The annual Flower Count is a fun event sponsored by Butchart Gardens and Tourism Victoria. The results were announced last week. Ahem, we have well over 17 billion colourful blooms flourishing in our gardens. This is more than a ten-fold increase over last year. I’m convinced this exceptional weather has been a huge factor in raising everyone’s happiness meter.

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning,
but anyone can start today and make a new ending.
~Maria Robinson

Every day is a new day! What I love about spring is that it’s a whole new season. Those first days of spring are a perfect time to do any course adjustments to the resolutions we did or did not make in January. It’s time to start shedding those extra winter pounds on our hips and bring back some play into our lives. Spring is about hope and renewal. It’s about receiving a resurgence of energy and motivation. It’s about revitalizing ourselves and our homes. It’s just a very busy season as we release the things we no longer need in order to make room for the new.

Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’
~Robin Williams

A party! That means it’s time for a new happiness list – a list of activities to kick start our joy for this time of year. Life will continue to happen, but here are some of the things I love about spring.

1. Decluttering! Yes, this is on my happiness list. I always feel lighter when I’ve gone through a cupboard or drawer and thrown out things I no longer need or want.
2. Spring cleaning. There is something rejuvenating about getting rid of the dust, dirt and grime that builds up around the house over the fall and winter.
3. Opening the windows and letting the fresh spring air flow in.
4. Daylight savings time. I love those extra hours of daylight in the evenings!
5. Hearing the birds sing first thing in the morning and all day long.
6. Flowers, flowers, flowers!
7. Being in the sunny outdoors – going for walks, working in the garden and dusting off my golf clubs.
8. Visits to the hairdresser, manicurist and massage table. Bliss.
9. Shopping! Even if I don’t buy anything, I love window shopping and seeing the bright coloured spring displays. And if I happen to wander into any of the stores… we’ll see. 😉
10. Meeting up with friends and neighbours who have been hibernating all winter, just like me.

So the next time I’m having a bad day, I’ll pull out my list, say a silent thank you and just start cleaning out that drawer in my office. What about you? What excites you about spring?

Photo Source

Daily Prompt