Embracing Spring

Have you ever tried to hold the wind? To wrap your arms around it and feel the fleshy wind close to your cheek or pressed against your belly? Have you ever cupped your hands (or paws) together and made a cave for the wind? Then tightened your fist around it to hold the puff in?

The pages of the seasons change with the wind. Chapters of rain or snow or even sunshine move with the gusts. The story moves when the trees bend in half and the clouds race across the sky and there is no way to hold that moment, to hold that power.

Photographs can’t do it justice. The billows of wind that buffet the house or push winter’s debris down the street get lost in the camera – blurred by trees and cars and earth and sky stuck in one click of a moment. A cloud blown across the sky is frozen in the frame and those moments of the wind’s magnificence are merely images of white and blue and gray, or of the crow holding tight to the tops of swaying trees.

This week we celebrated the Vernal Equinox with wind. It rattled the windows, shook the house, sent birds tumbling through the sky, and kept us awake early in the wee hours of the morning.

Monday was still winter. It rained so hard and so cold Gretchen had to come back for her rain gear, her mittens, and a hat. The wind was a whisper, but every once in awhile my curls ruffled and I planted my paws a bit firmer on the earth.

Tuesday was the official first day of spring and the wind announced the new season’s chapter. It was so cold I almost (but not quite) asked for my coat and I leaned into the wind with all my might. We tried to walk past buildings so they blocked the gusts, but still my tail flapped out of control and Gretchen’s eyes watered as we both braced against the blustery chill.

And just like that, the page turned and Wednesday brought us blue skies, big white clouds, and warmer temperatures. It didn’t last long, but the wind had done its job and spring felt like a possibility.

Of course by Wednesday night, the rain visited us once again and the temperatures dropped enough that all around us people watched the snow fall once again. No snow here, but winter was pushed just far enough that spring had a chance to give us glimpses of the future.

And I must pause (paws) because I’m beginning to feel like a dog weather forecaster and friends, this is not the profession I have envisioned for myself. Gretchen says I should relax — “We’ve had some pretty rough weather of late, Rubin.” — and she’s right, we certainly have.

I knew it was bad when I started sorting through old photographs and finding pictures of summers past. Oh what I’d give for a walk on the beach in the warmth of August or swimming in the lake and not freezing my curls off!

Still, I tried to muster up the courage to face this chapter of the seasons bravely. Yes, I even ventured into the lake for a swim and sat on the back porch with my buddy Monty to soak up the little warmth that came our way.

I spent time with my friends — Rosie and Tyson, Roux, Woobie, Paige, and yes Monty — and though we tried not to commiserate about the weather, it was a hot (not really though) topic! Roux even tried to catch the wind with her mouth.

I think Roux should have tried to catch the sun, but she doesn’t always listen to me.

The wind doesn’t listen either. Instead, I listen to it all night long and sometimes it lulls me into dreams filled with colors — yellow and orange and blues and greens — the next chapter of Spring!

Hold on, it’s coming! If there’s one thing the wind gave me this week was the hope that winter’s narrative will fade and spring’s time is just a few pages away.

Until then,

Rubin