Who stole Spring?

by Angela Lovell

Who stole Spring and what have they done with her?
Detective Dante is on the case.

Let’s think now: Winter has always been jealous of Spring because people are so happy when she arrives and she drives Winter from their minds almost immediately. I wouldn’t suspect Summer because she’s so glorious and happy she doesn’t envy anyone. Fall’s the one you have to watch. He’s beautiful, yes but sneaky, suddenly turning on the heat to boiling, or conjuring up an unexpected frost to scupper your tomatoes. If I had to pin Spring’s disappearance on anyone, it would definitely be Fall.

So, what’s the motive? Jealousy is an obvious one, but maybe there’s more to it than that. Could Spring and Fall be in cahoots? After all, with all the climate alchemy going on these days it seems that Spring and Fall are losing out in a lot of ways. They’re both getting shorter roles and they deal with a ton of insecurity. I know it hurts them to be called ‘shoulder’ seasons, like spare appendages at a weather event, but the fact is they do ‘shoulder’ a lot of responsibility and take a lot of grief from being the buffer between the two most loved and hated seasons.

Summer isn’t playing the lead role that she used to either – she’s not quite reduced to a cameo but her appearances are becoming all too brief and she seems to lack the sparkle and excitement of days gone by.

It’s Winter who has been the big winner over the past few years, blowing and blustering for an extension to his contract, getting colder and more intense, keeping everyone so busy shoveling snow that they don’t remember what it’s like to be warm.

So, maybe Spring and Fall have agreed to a go-slow (hopefully it’s not an all-out work stoppage) in an effort to make people take more notice of them. There could be some tense negotiations going on behind closed clouds to come to a new agreement.

Meanwhile, we continue to navigate ice rutted roads, plug our vehicles in at night, watch the snow melt by half a millimeter a day, and dream of green grass, symphonies of grackles and flowers in bloom.

Whatever has happened to Spring, I vote that when she does arrive we unplug from our various devices and spend most of our time keeping her company outdoors. Let’s show Spring lots of love and maybe she’ll give Winter the black eye he deserves next year.