Spring is upon us

Spring is my favorite time of the year. Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and I’m willing to ignore my terrible spring allergies because I finally don’t have to leave the house bundled in 13 layers of clothes every day. You win some, you lose some.

Most importantly, spring allows me to breathe again, maybe not physically, but emotionally. I look forward to fall and winter after a grueling Alabama summer, but it’s a love-hate relationship. Like any Southerner, I marvel at the cold when it arrives, and then almost as quickly, I long for comfortable temperatures and longer days. By the end of February, I get angry every time I have to leave my house and step into a cold, cloudy darkness.

Spring is my true new year. Once daylight saving time starts, I have a whole new outlook on life. I suddenly want to jog, adopt every animal from an animal shelter and sing while twirling on the top of a hill like the incomparable Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. Will I actually do all of those things? My tiny apartment will prevent me from adopting animals, but I’ll give the other ones a shot. 

All of those impulses probably mean that spring is a time of year that inspires me to make changes and be a better person. It could also mean that I have seasonal affective disorder, but either way, my renewed good mood is usually obvious to my friends and family as I make apologies for my attitude over the past four months. 

We might still have some chilly days ahead of us before it truly feels like spring, but when it comes, I encourage everyone to use the warmer weather and those extra daylight hours to get inspired and better yourself in some way. If you see a strange woman spinning around on a hillside while singing “The Hills are Alive” through a stuffy nose, it’s probably me. Happy spring.