When we moved to town there was a stand of trees to the north and quite a lot of water. When spring came there was the constant melody of the frogs and the ducks, and rabbits ran carefree down the block. Most of the trees are gone now and this spring there was a lot of water sitting on the corner but I?ve yet to have heard any frogs and the only sign of other wildlife is the excitement of the neighbourhood dogs when they see or sniff something. There are still trees just a few lots to the west of our house and I did try to save a few in our yard when we brought our house in, carefully nurturing a few stalks of wild rose bushes. The hardy flowers were meant to be in this space and they thrive better than anything I?ve brought into the yard to plant.
It is a season of change and restlessness around our house. My daughter longs to spend her free time in the yard playing with her hula hoop and holding court with the other little girls who live nearby. I loved being outside when I was a child and have many happy memories of spending the evenings and days playing with neighbourhood children, riding my bike and not worrying about much of anything.
Right now almost all of my children?s activities are wrapping up and as we see the schedule open up a little bit I feel relieved. They spend the winter in various activities and, although they look forward to them and enjoy the social, physical and skill-building components, they don?t mind when they end for the spring and summer. Piano is my choice for them and the only way I can get them to practice when they?d rather be outside is to remind them they only have a short time until the festival and recital and then they can just play when they want to sit down at the keys.
We?ve been involved in spring sports in the past and my son will still compete in track events at school but they don?t even ask to play ball or soccer, instead looking forward to riding their bikes, taking walks, exploring and playing at the playgrounds in town.
My daughter started complaining about scars on her knees the other day. I asked her if she?d rather just sit up straight and stay clean and free of blemishes or would she rather ride bikes, climb trees, run and play. She showed me a few more scars and talked about their circumstances and I know she won?t mind getting a few more.
