Seasons Spring -

This is spring. Not summer's riot, but the hinge between cold and warmth. The season of almost. Almost warm. Almost green. Almost there.

And you, standing in your thin shirt, squinting at the sun—you are almost yourself again, too. seasons spring

The first day arrives not with a bang, but with a whisper. You notice it in the softness of the light—a honey-gold slant through the kitchen window where, yesterday, the sun felt sharp and cold. Then the sound: a single bird, uncertain at first, testing a note it hasn't sung in months. By noon, the whole chorus joins in, rusty but eager. This is spring

You step out without a coat for the first time since October. The air smells of wet earth and something sweeter—pear blossoms, maybe, or just the promise of them. A breeze lifts your hair, not to bite your cheeks, but to remind you: you survived the dark. You made it through. Almost warm

Outside, the world is still mostly brown and grey, but look closer. The tips of branches are swollen with tiny fists of green. Crocus blades push through the half-frozen soil like needles through cloth. A single purple bloom, brave and reckless, cups a droplet of last night's rain.