Spring Break

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. Doug Larson, journalist

When I was growing up, spring break was really Easter vacation.  I think it started with Good Friday and went through the whole next week.  In college, spring break for me meant bus trips, touring with the choir around the country, but not to popular party beaches.  When I later settled in a community and discovered the rhythm of village life, I was surprised to discover that school systems were different than what I’d known.  Spring break had nothing to do with spring or Easter and today it often means a family getaway or more stress on parents who have to arrange for extended childcare.

After this record setting winter, we all are ready for spring to break. There have been a few hours when car windows have been open, jackets have been shed, and a couple of days have been boot-free.  I’ve heard and seen lots of robins. Those teasers have let us know that our gloom will end soon.  What will you will do on that first truly spring morning?  I always love getting fresh air into the house and look forward to that first long walk around the neighborhood to see what’s changed and what is still the same.

Out of curiosity I looked up the calendar for my alma maters and neighborhood schools.  Back in New York, students now have a mid-winter week’s recess in February, but their spring recess still is the week after Easter.  Locally, students have some week off this month.

I think people have been more casually chatty this winter.  Our common misery and despair has given us permission to talk to strangers more.  So, I would like to think that in the near future when spring does arrive we might continue to engage with those to whom we’ve recently done more than nod.   

Unfortunately, the reality is we’ll resume our isolated lives until the next extreme and then we’ll briefly open up once again with a nod and a ‘can you believe that lightening?’ but old habits will emerge and win.  It’s too bad that our shared experiences do not truly create community beyond the moment.  I wish we could use this spring to break that pattern.

Marilyn