Published on 04/17/2010

Real happiness and joy lie ouside of ourselves. And, there is much of them to be found in nature.

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"When April with his showers hath pierced the drought of March with sweetness to the very root and flooded every vein with liquid power that of its strength engendereth the flower....And little birds are making melody that sleep the whole night through with open eye, for in their hearts do Nature stir them so, then people long on pilgrimages to go...." ~Geoffrey Chaucer, from The Canterbury Tales

There's something about the onset of spring! Suddenly everything begins to come alive and appears to be restless. Even the grass under our feet seems to vibrate with stronger shades of green.

Yesterday, a purple Iris at the front of the house opened into a lovely royal velvet bloom; and a soft white azalia appeared all by its lonesome on a shrub near the deck in the backyard.

Soon the old hickory out back, with no fanfare, will have a thick head of green leaves and hundreds of hidden nuts --treats for thieving squirrels next autumn.

And, with the approach of the Easter season, the dogwood trees will be blanketed with scatterings of white buds. Yards all around the neighborhood will perk up with pink, white, red, and purple azalia blooms.

Several people I know can hardly restrain enthusiasm when talking about their vacation plans. They can't wait to get out of town. Young couples, scared, but excited, are setting wedding dates for the summer and making plans for sharing their lives together. Golfers and fishermen are purchasing equipment at Gander Mountain and Big Buck's, dreaming of a hole-in-one or the biggest fish ever caught in a body of water.

Beginnings are great, don't you think? Our imagination, of what might be, motivates us into action--and action is life.

We can all be heroes, if we imagine it so. The prospect of a beautiful wedding and a lifetime in a happy relationship, or of a future glory on the golf course or by a river bank seems to lie within our reach--at a beginning.

What occurs in the middle and results in the end can be dealt with later. But for awhile, we are able to enjoy dreaming of great possibilities and revitalizing thoughts that come our way during spring, a time for new beginnings.

How very dreary life would be without our dreams!