The heady scented blend of freesias, jasmine and native frangipani are inhaled and fill me with confidence that the season of spring is here. The buds on the Geraldton wax are synchronising with the roses and coming into fullness as a duet. It is however the grevilleas that support the bees and honey eaters to fill their hives and nests and bring the promise of new life, that ground me in this season of spring.
The vineyards that I see every day are beginning to green, just as the baby birds are feathering up. It is no wonder that spring and love inspire poets, writers, composers, artists – spring and love were made for each other.
In the beautiful new collection of Australian Love Poems 2013 there is a haiku from one of Australia’s greatest living poets and lyricists, Paul Kelly writes:
Time is elastic
Together, days disappear
Apart, seconds crawl.
Distilled in new words, the essence of the longing of separation and the eternity of union is the duet of spring and love. I can’t really imagine one without the other – the blossom, the expectation, the sanctity.
Keeping yourself in springtime and in love is knowing that the seasons all give way to one another in a virtuous cycle. It is one of the reasons I have loved living near vineyards, which I have fortunately been able it do most if my life. The seasons unfold and remind me of all the lessons of life – pruning, renewal, harvest, rest, new beginnings from old growth.
The attraction of spring can also mask the reason it is here – to herald a new era and to let the old season pass. It is seductive to want to be in springtime all the time … and it is not possible. What is possible is to know that spring comes and love comes back to life even when it might have looked dead.
I am constantly falling in love, with new ideas, new stories, old stories, new people, people who have been with me for a long time and each time spring turns up I fall in love with spring too. I sprout some new shoots, or birth a new part of my being, or breath in deeper to inhale the new fruits take shape.
As I enjoy the spring, my God is getting bigger and there is more than enough room in the nest for everyone.
The seeds sown in the dark, are all finding their way to greet the light on the surface and are dancing now as new life in the sunshine and being soaked every now and again by the heavy seasonal showers. I have even been kept awake by this full moon, insisting I remain vigilant to springtime and love.
The Canticle of the Sun by Francis of Assisi must have been written for this time and it is with great joy that I too can proclaim: “so much in love with all that I survey” this spring. His namesake in Rome is announcing spring; just as clearly as the magpie does; and like the maggie, is swooping down from the nest to remind us that spring is here and it is time to protect all that we love that is in the nest. Morality anxiety must give way to Big Love.
My favourite blessing to sing is the Long Time Sun Song and I offer it to all you who are reading this blog so that you too might have your spring enriched.
Letters to 