Nicole Ford Thomas

Spring has never really been my thing. I usually see the flowers blooming and the leaves unfurling through watery, squinted eyes thanks to allergies, but somewhere over the last few years I have come to appreciate the offering of new beginnings that spring brings.

I suppose it comes from being more in tune with the earth and the Wheel of the Year (not Wiccan, but I have to admit that Wheel is quite handy with some regional tweaking!) I have learned that Mother’s Day is approaching when the lilac blooms start to fade. Father’s Day is around the corner when the tulips drop their petals. And right around the end of June, we get dumped on by the Yellow Haze, courtesy of any pine tree in a 300 mile radius. Every year it snows on Halloween, and every January we have a “freak” thunderstorm that catches everyone by surprise somehow.

This year, however, we missed a milestone I used to set my clock by. Every year around May 13th it would snow. I know this because May 13th is our wedding anniversary. It felt like a cruel prank by Nature, like “Hahaha, thought winter was over, huh? How about KABLOW!”

But I’m a mere few days from May 13th and there is no such meteorological shenanigan in our forecast. Could it be that the weather is having mercy on us in the year 2023 because it knows we’ve seen enough tomfoolery to last several lifetimes? For once, could we actually be gifted a “once in a lifetime” experience that is pleasant rather than traumatic?

My fingers are crossed. Humanity could use a win right now.