The year is 2023, and for the very first time in my 13 years as a Utah-resident, I experienced the famous Utah Spring weather I had heard about. April, and even March, in my experience, are the start of Spring, but this year, it was the very, very end of April when the cold winter weather finally receded for good, and the plants started to grow again.
I am a strong believer in “there’s no such bad weather, only bad clothes”. Heck, I even find the sharp winter weather to be good for my mental health. So I was okay having a more drawn-out winter—the only other option being a hotter, and more drawn-out summer in a high-elevation desert. However, as so much of April passed with so little promise of Spring, I can’t say that I didn’t start to long for the change. After all, Spring is my favourite season.
There’s just something about that bright, new green from all the plants as they first grow back, that doesn’t last into Summer, against dark cloudy skies; blossoms of varying colors, each with their own scent; and the more-frequent rains. To me it feel like life itself. The new start for the earth seems to carry with it an excitement for what else could change and grow better, too.
I specifically remember the April when I was 14. I remember the cloudy days with rain sprinkling on and off. And the bright greens and feeling excited, and refreshed. There was one specific day when my sister and I went fro a walk, and talked about our favourite movie, or maybe Youtube videos. I was wearing my favourite (much too low) jeans, and favourite shirt. The air felt fresh. It was a pleasant walk during an overwhelmingly pleasant Spring month. Around this time is when I feel I first ‘came into’ being who I am today. It was a noticeable shift. A knowing of myself, and a passion for my interests. I look back at that time as the ‘start’ of me as an adult, though I was still very much a child. It was in the cradle of the Spring newness that I, too, started to grow and become a new version of myself.
It’s also a time of opposites. I l o v e flowers. I love cloudy days, and rain. But I also have pretty much the worst allergies you can have without being asthmatic. So there’s that pull of something I can’t get enough of, in conjunction with something that is not so good. My favourite season is like so many of my other favourites—#worthit by my standards, but most people probably wouldn’t agree. Cheese was my OG favourite food. I’m lactose intolerant. But I still can’t stay away (even if I have f i n a l l y, after 30 years, learned moderation—in this area). The one thing I’ve never chosen to love, but have just always been enamored with? Cats. So I have 3. But I am super allergic. Worth it. My favourite person being someone who was definitely nearly the opposite of everything I was taught to accept on the grounds of politics and region? Definitely worth it. As an adult, my desire to slow down and just be in the moment, and experience it fully is constantly battling against my other side which just can’t seem to pass up a good opportunity—to the point that my calendar is literally full—to learn and grow more. It think it’s worth it? But I have been feeling burned out since February, so I think that’s still up for discussion.
Spring, is the most pleasantly sensory time of year, I think. Summer is too hot, too crowded, and too loud. Winter has a delicious emptiness of sound when it snows, but it also just has an emptiness. Though Fall is also quite sensory, it’s crisp and crunchy, whereas Spring is soft and balmy, so it still takes the top spot. The smell of flowers and new growth; the feeling of soft, new plants, and the warmth of the sun mixed with the chill of a cold breeze; the chorus of birds, and storms; and the range of colors are just unmatched, for me. It’s everything good all together, but in a gentle way that doesn’t overwhelm. In my experience, that’s pretty hard to find.
As an older child, I remember waiting for overcast—Spring—days to play specific Barbie games (for the right feeling). Though I didn’t have the words for it then, it was that Hygge feeling I was searching for. The weather that permitted being outdoors without too much heat or cold, but maybe chilly enough that you want to go back in and feel cozy. Or that allows you to open a window and have a breeze, carrying the smell of rain with it, in. When it’s cloudy, things seem to slow down. People stay inside, so noise decreases. But unlike Winter, where everything is dead, and you’re cold, everything is beautiful and alive. And all you need is a light jacket!
The concept of Hygge itself, calling to me from my Springtime memories, has been a guiding driver throughout my life. I’ve talked before about Hygge, and how to capture it. Most people think of being cozy in Winter, but Hygge is Hygge when you’re outside, and then get cozy after. It’s camaraderie. It’s being present. And I think Spring pushes us all to seek that out. We’re more motivated to get outside to walk, or explore, or garden, and just hang out. And when we’re all doing it at the same time, we spend time together. We’re nudged by the weather into creating stronger bonds with those in our communities.
Spring as a time of growth is hardly an original thought. But I do find myself reflecting on my past Springs, and taking note of what’s happened. I visited my future college for the first time at 17. At 19 I didn’t go home for the Summer, and I started a new relationship. (I w a n t e d to get married in the Spring at 21, but with Spring semester classes, that wasn’t feasible). We bought our house in Spring when I was 25. 27 year old me just h a d to finally take the leap and get a family bike. When I was 28, it was in Spring that I decided to get serious about language learning. All Winter long, I can do the things I’m doing, and focus pretty well for most of it. And then Spring comes, and I come out of my routine, and search for growth and change, too.
So, this year, though Spring is later than anticipated, I welcome it with love. I’m excited to read books in the yard. I’m thinking ahead to what I want to do that’s new, or what needs to be changed. But mostly, I’m feeling bolstered by the freshness and excitement in the air. The other day, it was so windy, I couldn’t resist walking along the trail and yelling into the wind.
I give the Spring season 5 stars.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
