And so we carried on with our lives, in spite of daily news. Wars and plagues, and weather. The skies were overcast gray for days. Rain fell on the buds of new leaves.

There are wildfires raging in New Mexico. There were tornadoes in Texas and Oklahoma A tornado touched down in Oak Brook, IL, too.

And then one morning, there was a light in the sky—the sun! And blue sky above the fair-weather clouds.

It was time to cut the high spring grass on the parkway. I got out the push reel mower.

Waiting all winter, the first cut of the season! And the push mower remembers the grass, the clover and the violets. It still works! Yes, me, too.

Yes, I remember the smell of cut grass, and the cheerful yellow of dandelions in the sun.

And still, every spring surprises me— the tulips, the magnolias, the emerging red shoots of the peonies.

Now, rain again and flower buds on the lilacs and the leaves of the lily of the valley.

The long cool spring may soon give way to much warmer temperatures. A big warm-up is forecast for next week. Highs in the 90’s in Texas, possible 80’s here. Suddenly, summer!