Spring has exploded with color and it feels like it was just for me. I left the states for the UAE on November 1, 2007 and got back in August of 2010. That means the last time I experienced spring was four years ago. What impressed me as I walked Sammy tonight was the perfume in the air. Too early for the lily of the valley to be out, it had to be the blossoms of the weeping cherry trees, the magnolias (which are magnificent) and an assortment of other things popping up and bursting open. Spring is one powerful season. I had to get out and see it today. I found it amazing. All that color.
Here in Holland, Michigan, they celebrate Spring (I always capitalize it since I’m part pagan) by having a huge festival called Tulip Time, in which they remember their Dutch heritage. People here boast that it is the third largest festival in America after Mardi Gras, and the Tournament of Roses parade. People come from all over the world to see the Holland students in their Dutch Costumes dancing traditional dances in the streets, eat overpriced (but very good) sausages, elephant ears, cotton candy and all kinds of things that leave wonderful smells lingering in the air downtown, and take photos of the tulips and costumes.
On the one hand it is a festival that appeals to a rather geriatric crowd, on the other hand it is a festival that meets a human need to embrace Spring—Persephone rising from the realm of the dead—Winter is over. Something invisible is in the air is speaking: the unbeatable force of life is rising up! Drink deep and get intoxicated! Feel the beat of your own heart fall into sync with the flow of sap in the trees and with the laughter of children playing on the hill.
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