Rituals of Spring

   Sunlight was creeping into my bedroom window and the room was beginning to glow.  As I began my waking up routine of preparing a large mug of tea the temperature was slowly rising here in Ohio.  Upon opening the back door I sniffed the air outside.  It was already nearly 50 degrees.  That realization motivated me to turn off the furnace and throw open the house windows.  Ah, fresh air at last!  I began to putter around the house, newly inspired to get on with my usual mundane tasks, but with new vigor.  I was even entertaining the thought of washing window!  Wait a minute...let's not get carried away here, I thought.  But I did begin to shuffle my clay pots around in anticipation of filling them with fresh soil and planting a few seeds.  Now for the ritual of shuffling and examining all my seed packets.  What to plant, what to plant.  Basil, lots of basil, I thought.  And some fennel, and chamomile...must get some holy basil seeds.  In the next few days, if it stays warm enough, I will re-pot some of my housebound herbs in the expectation of the day when all my plants can stay outside for the spring and summer.  Though many of them have been bloomimg through the winter months in my studio all of them could use a boost with some fresh soil.  Once they are outside I will feed them and we are on our way to the warm gardening days of summer! 
     As the day has progressed the temperature moved into the high sixties.  Wow!  But thrilling as that is I know that realistically it can't stay that way.  It is St. Patrick's day.  That is way too soon for the warm temps to last.  But even so, the earth is trying to green up for the day at least!  I treated myself to a bit of hidden treasure as I went to a local secondhand bookstore in search of something wonderful. It's always good to visit with Heidi the cat who lives in the bookstore.  She accompanied me to the depths of the basement and sat waiting on me as I looked through the nooks and crannies searching for something unique amongst the stacks of books. Driving home with my special find I drove with my car windows open.  Ah, spring!  And I could use some new clothes, too.  I've started to clean out my closets.  The re-discovery of things that had been lost in the depths of my closets was another fun ritual. 
    The thing about one's personal rituals is that it seems to help anchor a person when they are feeling a bit out of sorts.  The time change and the seasonal changes tend to leave me feeling a bit mixed-up.  Throw in the full moon and I tend to have interrupted sleep patterns.  My rituals have helped me to have a good day.  I'm sure I'll sleep tonight.  And, hey, even if I don't, I have a good book to read!  Thanks, Heidi!