Hello, April!

I turned the calendar this morning to find an Eastern Towhee looking back at me, sitting among the young fragrant buds of a pink flowering tree. I smiled and sighed with content relief.

Last night when I took the dogs out I saw a yellow daffodil blooming in the back yard. The daffodils always bloom first. The irises follow quickly behind. Irises are my favorite flower.

Signs of April. Signs of spring.

I think April has always been my favorite month. It represented spring for me, and warmer weather, and green grass, and flowers. There were always flowers on the bulletin board in grade school when the teacher put up the April calendar. Usually tulips cut from brightly colored construction paper. A nice replacement to fat blue raindrops, red hearts, snowflakes.

April is my birth month. It’s also the month of Easter, though Easter has fallen on the last Sunday of March before. This year Easter falls on my birthday, which was always even more special as a child.

Growing up in the south on a tiny farm, I often got a baby yellow duck or a baby bunny as an Easter or birthday gift. I hand raised them and loved them and watched them grow, and at one time probably had 10 to 12 birthdays of animals in the backyard.

My first bunny was named, aptly, Easter. He was white with black eyes and black ears. I probably got him when I was 8 or 9 and he lived well into my years of high school. He’s buried in my mother’s yard, next to other animals that passed on, beneath an old dogwood tree.

Birthdays aren’t as fun anymore. We are older. I try not to think about when it’s my time to be planted under that tree.

For now, I’ll celebrate another spring and watch the flowers grow. I’ll have some cake and smile and maybe cut tulips from the brightly colored post-its on my desk. I’ll find some yellow ducks to be my screen saver.

People say if only they could be young again, but go back knowing what they know now. Nah…what’s the fun in that? I’d want to start completely fresh again, just like we do every spring.

Hello, April! Old friend. Welcome back! I’ve missed you.