First, thanks so much for your generous link to my website. Glad to know you are enjoying my musings.

I love springtime. It usually means de-cluttering in my household. Sorting, Donating, Discarding – it is rather cathartic for me.

It is a time of starting fresh and appreciating the beauty that nature has to offer us. Thanks for reminding us not to take it for granted.

@Eva, you’re welcome! I’m really enjoying your blog a lot. I just love that about Minnesotans! I can just picture you, Bob Dylan and Prince on that first bike ride around the many gorgeous lakes!

Thanks for the happy images.

@Patty, I smile at the thought of us living parallel lives! It’s happened more than a few times that I wish there were a Parallel Lives 101 course I could take. I just love the idea of you walking next to a river each day — so much more peaceful than honking away stuck in city traffic. Oh, and I look forward to your Spring post. I’m sure I’m gonna love it. Thanks.

@Fr. Michael, birds chirping — the perfect mood enhancer! Thanks for sharing.

@Baker, I’m lovin’ the idea of meditating on a hill in beautiful Arizona! I gotta try that. Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again soon.

@Ayo, you’re welcome!

@Greg, you’re welcome! I just love your “100 things about me list”. I’m hoping to learn as much as I can about hydrogen cars before their launch. It’s funny that you bring up running as I’ve also been thinking about getting back into running. It’s so much nicer to do when the sun is shining bright. Thanks for sharing a slice of Tennessee!

@Tisha, ah yes, clearing clutter beyond the material feels so good at the start of a new season. I love that you journal your plans and goals. Everything seems to take on a life (that needs to be nurtured) once we write it down, doesn’t it? Thanks for sharing, and I’m happy to share the beauty of mostly-sunny CA with you!

@Phil, that’s beautiful. I can just picture you cloud watching. Thanks for sharing your rituals.

@Sara, spring fever is my kind of fever, too! Thank you.

@Lauren, you’re welcome and thank you! So nice to know that you know all about the beauty of the San Francisco Bay! One summer I worked as a server on a cruise ship here. The bay is pretty awe-inspiring and the sunsets from a ship are some of the best I’ve ever seen. As for the “hierarchies”, you bring up a great point, that they’re all wonderful and definitely worth their day in the spring, so to speak. And I love where you’re located! i haven’t spent as much time as I’d like to in the legendary SoCal surf/beach towns but I hope to do that in the future. I am in a little hippie town called Bolinas in West Marin just an hour north of SF and I have a breathtaking view of the lagoon and the ocean from our cottage. We spent the morning in the beautiful garden where the birds and the buds make time stand still. Pretty groovy!

@Kristen, beautiful! Thanks for sharing the beauty of the American Midwest!

@Tess, I share your enthusiasm for ice cream in the springtime. Thanks for sharing those special moments with your grandkids.

I like to celebrate spring by moving my focus back to the outdoors. We tend to hole up during the long, cold winter and the return of warmer weather and the budding of the trees and flowers helps me remember the importance of celebrating the beauty of nature.

I LOVE your images – you, your son, and husband meandering with a melting ice cream cone! How wonderful. Also, I can just “see” the San Francisco Bay. I used to live in Oakland and we would sail the bay and dock at Tiburon and eat great seafood then spend the night on the boat out at Angel Island. I love it!

A smile crossed my face when I read the heart won. It seems my heart also wins often. I relate because I also have a keen mind that loves to become engrossed in all sorts of interesting details.

Both are wonderful. It’s funny how easy it is to create “hierarchies” of which is better. All are wonderful, I think, in their own right: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual.

Hey, I happen to live in a cool little southern Cal surfing beach community. I’m wondering if you are going to be near me!

I love your insight and your site. Thank you for recommending me. And have a great springtime joy-filled vacation!

Lauren

I hope you enjoy your spring fling:~)

I greet spring with a joyful and happy heart. It is such a symbolic moment as nature reawakens from the dark days of winter. I rejoice in the light and spend time in the park, soaking in the daffodils and watching clouds race across the sky. I always feel my heart warm when spring rolls around. Thanks for a beautiful and poetic post.

Phil

Thanks so much for mentioning the Positive Waves Baby blog and linking to the post on taking full responsibility. I really appreciate it!

Thanks also for once again writing a thought-provoking post.

I must say that I really, really enjoy this time of year. I like the sun and I like warm weather. And though I live in Tennessee where it doesn’t usually get really cold, I still find the warm weather that accompanies spring to be very uplifting. Today it was sunny and the temperature was above 60 degrees, so I was in heaven.

At some point in the next few weeks, I will start running outside at a nearby beautiful park that is right beside the lake. It usually stays warm enough here, so I can run there until late October or early November before returning to do cardio at the gym.

Have a wonderful trip to the little surfing town with your family! Here is my favorite part of your post:

“I will be…holding hands instead of blackberrys.”

Indeed!