As the outdoor thermometer moved steadily toward the 70 degree mark, I sat on my front step watching the children revel in the joy of playing outside sans jackets. Even though the calendar read mid-February, the weather was conveying late-April, early-May, especially with the sunshine and slight breeze warming my face. Ah, spring will be here soon, and with it will come Spring Reading.
You know what Spring Reading looks like in my life? The image of my stockinged feet up on the arm of the bench in our front yard, water bottle nearby, my book settled on the backdrop of my jeans. Maybe a butterfly flutters by, maybe I have to shift to the opposite side of the bench in the afternoon because of the sunlight.
Oh, this image in my head is sustaining me right now, in this between-seasons time of year. One day it might feel like spring is right around the corner, and the next afternoon has me bundled in sweaters and sipping hot cocoa once again, reminiscing about my Winter Reading joys.
With a fire crackling away in our wood stove, our small townhouse’s living room feels more cozy than cramped, and when the children are all snug in their beds for nap time, I can often be found wiling away my own winter afternoons under a fleece blanket on my couch with a book in my hands. The cold winds may blow outside, but my Winter Reading keeps me content.
As I say goodbye to those Winter Reading habits for another year, I’m hoping for a quick onset of the warm weather that will usher in the next season. Each season seems to bring a new best place to read- the cozy couch by the fire makes way for the outside bench in the sunlight, and this eventually gets passed over the shelter of the hammock in the shade or the edge of the community pool during the Summer Reading season. Once Fall Reading takes the stage, I’ll find myself once again reading outdoors in the brisk air, while the kids use up every last minute of daylight to play each afternoon.
When the seasons pass from one to the next, we make lots of different types of adjustments, from the clothing contents in our dressers to the fruits and veggies in our refrigerators, and maybe I’m not the only one who shifts to the next “best reading spot” either.
Dawn is fully prepared for spring to make an appearance in the mid-Atlantic area… and she’s getting her bench set up for reading! When she’s not reading, she’s often blogging away at my thoughts exactly.
Jennifer says
I love this! I can relate so much. I love reading by the fire or wrapped in a throw in the colder months, and these warmer hint-of-spring temperatures have driven me outside, which is truly my favorite place to read.
I’m not at all sure if my covered celing fan-ned back porch with allow me to read in the blistering heat of a Houston summer. I hope so, but that remains to be seen.
Dawn says
Yes, by mid-August, it’s usually a little too humid to sit outside and read, unless at least part of my body is in the pool, that is! 🙂