The First Day of Spring

Pam & baby Devon, April 1976

Today is the first day of Spring. This time of year always reminds me of my incredible mother, Pam White and of my magically wonderful grandmother Marian Williams Steele a.k.a. Mana. It’s partly because all the women in our family have birthdays in April, but also because I have such intense memories related to first days of spring. I remember all my senses coming alive – my mother pointing out the purple crocuses peaking out of the melting snow and Mana melting PAAS color pellets on the stove to color and paint our easter eggs. Strong memories of feeling alive and in the present.

And as my mothers memories are fading what I love about being with her now IS the feeling of being in the present; holding hands and physical touch, feeling the wind blow, singing along to a song on the radio – being in the present endures.

I have been reading a lot of Winnie the Pooh to our daughter Dylan lately and love how beautifully Milne captures that feeling of being in the present.

Here is a poem of his called:

Spring Morning

Where am I going? The clouds sail by,
Little ones, baby ones, over the sky.
Where am I going? The shadows pass,
Little ones, baby ones, over the grass.

If you were a cloud, and sailed up there,
You’d sail on water as blue as air,
And you’d see me here in the fields and say:
“Doesn’t the sky look green today?”

Where am I going? The high rooks call:
“It’s awful fun to be born at all.”
Where am I going? The ring-doves coo:
“We do have beautiful things to do.”

If you were a bird, and lived on high,
You’d lean on the wind when the wind came by,
You’d say to the wind when it took you away:
“That’s where I wanted to go today!”

Where am I going? I don’t quite know.
What does it matter where people go?
Down to the wood where the blue-bells grow-
Anywhere, anywhere. I don’t know.

Banker & Devon painting in the yard. Needham MA - Spring 1978

Banker & Devon painting in the yard in Needham MA – Spring 1978

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