Use your senses!

A spring walk is a completely different experience from a winter walk - a fact I knew, but hadn't really lived until this year. Winter in Bellevue is generally only different from spring in that it is darker, and maybe colder - with all the evergreens and the lack of snow, the landscape doesn't really change much. In Texas, apart from the occasional ice storm, winter doesn't look all that different from the other seasons. But here, we had 5 months of snow storms and cold. The landscape is reduced to white and gray, windblown snow providing most of the visuals. There are birds, but apart from the resident ducks, they tend to stay hidden and quiet. Mostly, a walk in the winter is cold. You certainly know it is winter, and that it is a distinct season.

But spring! Spring uses all your senses. The birds are all singing, the flowers are blooming - a feast for the eyes and the nose. I mean, snow has a smell, but it isn't particularly interesting after 4 months... Every day something new has sprouted or bloomed or grown. Yesterday I noticed magnolias and dandelions, and many trees have actual leaves now. Soon there will be lilacs - one of my absolute favorites. Even the wind has changed - instead of howling down the canal path, forcing its way into your clothes through the tiniest chinks, it ruffles your hair, provides a little relief from the warmth of the sun. Rain feels like a blessing instead of a curse.