Every morning we wake up and directly outside our bedroom window is a beautiful tree with pink flowers. We are not really sure what type of tree it is.
During the winter months we would wake up and peek out of the same window; most days what we saw was cloudiness and grey skies. As hard as we tried, day after day, looking at the dismalness of the weather eventually gets to affect your mood and disposition. In particular this year, it seemed to go on forever.
Suddenly there has been a significant about-face. We are blessed with these bright happy flowers looking at us each morning.
What a difference it makes in how we face what lies ahead during the day. Nina mentioned that she was in Lord and Taylor and noticed that she was completely surrounded by bright colors. Suddenly all of the dresses are greens, yellows, turquoises, and bright pink. Floral patterns are everywhere. She found it to be an uplifting experience and noticed that she left the store feeling happy.
We remember that there was a large empty field near one of the houses we lived in while in Montreal. Each day we would see Italian and Greek women dressed totally in black walking along the fields, bending down picking up dandelion. Apparently dandelion is frequently cooked and used in salads. We never really understood if they dressed that way because they were in mourning or instead because they felt that was a more “tznius” way to dress. It was so unhappy looking. It is exciting to see that now, even in the stores that cater to the observant shopper, the racks filled with black skirts, dresses, and shirts are pushed to the side and, reluctantly or not, color has even moved in to the main areas of the sales floor. We wish we could figure out who suddenly decreed that it would be all right to wear color again. We’d love to meet that person.
Spring has not totally engulfed us yet. We all are complaining, after this long winter, that the days are still chilly. There has still been a good deal of rain and the weather has been downright unpredictable. We think that it is time to be happy in preparation for the upcoming arrival of real spring. We are already much further than where we were. The next step will be the arrival of summer and we can anticipate those complaining that the temperatures are too steamy. What’s with us? We need to remind ourselves of the past winter and the days that we would have preferred to stay in bed.
There has to be a happy pill that enables us to be satisfied with the elements around us. For us it is the beautiful tree that we have outside our window. It does not take a great deal to cheer us up—one glance outside and the smiles return to our faces. Drive down some of the streets of our community and see the magnificence of the trees beginning to blossom—the magnolias, cherry blossom, and fruit trees that are getting ready for their summer enchantment.
Enjoy it all. We seem to always to be looking for something down the road.
This season does indeed make us feel grateful that we live in this community. Nature’s beauty is all around us.
By Rabbi Mordechai and Nina Glick
