Celebrate: The one where old man winter sheds his cloak

First, a thank you to Ruth Ayres over at Ruth Ayres Writes for hosting this meme. Head on over there to read other celebrations.
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"Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried."

These lines from Shakespeare's Richard III are often misunderstood or not fully quoted.  As Gloucester proclaims, change is in the air, this week the fog of winter lifted and for this I am grateful. Today I celebrate spring.

It wasn't just the physical and meteorological aspect of old man winter that lifted, it was the emotional and psychological aspect as well. Yes, the last of the snow piles finally melted in the rains of Tuesday morning, and yes, the crocus bulbs are popping through the ground that is slowing awakening from its winter dormancy. I love this stage of awakening. My husband saw me crest the hill from the back gardens and asked how many signs of spring I had seen. This is something I have done all my life, but more thoughtfully once our children were born. Each spring we spent those early days, watching and waiting for, and then observing the signs as they appeared. The sights and sounds of spring are all around: crocuses, snow drops, expanding tree buds, bird songs, and light, glorious sunlight. Old man winter has shed his cloak.

My emotional and psychological mood have shifted and lifted as well. I am not exaggerating that somewhere around 4:30 pm on Wednesday, the final vestiges of winter slipped away as if a silk scarf falling from my shoulders. I was still at school and working in the library creating my April Rain Song installation. I was listening to Mumford and Sons' I Will Wait. Something welled up from inside and before I knew it I was jumping and dancing around my library (with the doors closed!). This well of good feeling has not departed and has in fact, grown, so that by Friday morning (before the students arrived), I was going around the school spreading a little spring joy with my colleagues. It was a great day with the students in the library as well. I think there's a pervasive sense of calmness that comes with the psychological lightening, or maybe it's the fact that our spring break is just one week away!  It was one of those days were students were so engaged in their work, that they had no sense of timing and actually groaned when told it was time to clean up. Many chose to use their study block to continue working on their projects. It was a great way to end a great week.