Emergence

Yesterday I felt as though I had finally emerged from Winter. Surely much winter remains in Omaha as the days remain short and the bitterness of February still lies ahead. But yesterday (and today) at least, my senses would beg to differ.

And it was not a gradual emergence but more a sudden startling one. I was home and comfortable, surrounded by snowy drifts which seem to loft higher than any in recent memory. And the next thing I knew, I’d opened the door to the outside and felt the cool crispness of the morning air. Just for an instant (I imagined) I’d seen my springtime shadow. And yet the sunshine and warmth and indeed my shadow remained distant, just beyond the lingering fog like a flower to blossom in April but desired today.

I stood on the porch and savored the rich damp morning air. And I knew from past experience that few things elicit from me such fond memories of days gone by as does Italian coffee outdoors in the chill of a foggy morning. Moments like these are exhilarating and often remind me of my morning walks to nowhere in particular from the coffee houses and café in London or Rome or Vienna or Prague.

And this fleeting feeling of springtime endured just long enough for its transformation to blanket me…mind, body and spirit. Suddenly the dreariness of winter cleared and the burden of cold lifted. And this feeling of happiness would follow me for the rest of the day and into the next.