Coming Home to Spring
It’s the Vernal Equinox! Spring is officially here, and for me, it is the time of year when I truly begin to feel alive again.
Winter can be harder on me than most. Even here in Northern California, the lack of light affects me emotionally. As the days lengthen, I feel a surge of energy; I begin to feel like myself again. Some might say spring comes early here, or that we don't really have a "true" winter, but those first blooms on the almond trees always signal a new cycle of regeneration and growth.
California poppies growing in my front yard.
The Memory of Returning Home
I’ll never forget one specific spring. Years ago, my husband was stationed in Colorado with the Army. When it was time to move back to California, it was the end of March. I was eight months pregnant with a fifteen-month-old toddler in tow. Driving cross-country wasn't an option, so I flew from Colorado Springs to Sacramento with my young son.
When we took off in Colorado, it was a blizzard, cold, dark, and blowing snow. I wasn't sad to leave it behind. When we landed in Sacramento and my mother-in-law drove us home, it was a sunny 75 degrees, and the California poppies were in full, brilliant bloom everywhere.
Perhaps it was the pregnancy hormones, but I literally began to cry. I kept saying, "I am so glad to be home again!" That is what spring feels like to me every year: A homecoming.
A Season of Sacrifice and Joy
Spring is also when followers of Jesus celebrate our most significant holiday, Easter. Beyond the rabbits and eggs, it is the foundation of our faith, the celebration of the resurrection. It’s a sobering time, rooted in the belief that none of us could ever earn a love that sacrificial.
I strive to share that kind of love with everyone, regardless of their faith. In so many ways, Easter is a celebration of sacrificial love and a deep, grateful joy.
Several artworks with my own versions of spring green in them.
Finding the "Spring Green"
As an artist who draws inspiration from nature, spring provides my favorite subjects in abundance. Butterflies, for instance, represent a beautiful kind of transformation or resurrection.
On my local trail, there is a stretch I think of as "Butterfly Alley." It comes to life with California Pipevine Swallowtails and their caterpillars; I have to be careful where I step because the life there is so lush and abundant.
For those who don't live in our Mediterranean climate, you might not realize that green isn't a year-round color for us. Soon, the rains will stop and the hills will turn that lovely golden color I missed so much when I lived elsewhere. But right now? Our hills are emerald jewels. That warm, brilliant spring green is a color I try to capture in almost every piece of art I create.
To me, spring is more than just a season. It’s an emotion I carry in my heart, one that carries me through the rest of the year.
Is there a specific flower, a scent, or a memory that signals 'home' to you? Whether it’s the almond blossoms or something entirely different, I’d love to hear about your own version of a spring homecoming.
