Springtime in New Mexico, or, In Like a Lion

It’s fully spring in the land of enchantment. The unseasonable warmth of this February has passed, and with it we have the tempestuous nature of March. On Thursday I came home in the midst of a windstorm that pelted me with sand for the entire half-mile walk from the bus stop to the house. I t was like being sandblasted for 15 minutes. I promptly took a shower and a nap.

But it’s also the gentle reawakening that attends spring. The cottoneaster out front has new growth, bulbs are coming up around town, and sunrise is moving gradually earlier (although I suppose a dose of daylight saving time tomorrow will nip that in the bud).

It’s been a fun season for our family as well. There’s plenty of stress to go around—Summer’s the cookie mom and has a new calling with the Cub Scouts, I was out until after 11 Wednesday with a ward temple trip and cleaning assignment, and there’s a gnawing sense that life is getting less simple as we get more into it.

But this also has the side effect of making us enjoy the free time more. Last weekend we made a day of a North Valley trip—a hike along the bosque, a trip to the best toy store in the world, and lunch at Blake’s, a local burger place that, even after 6+ years in town, we had never tried before.

This sense of adventure has defined this year for us. Our trip to Bosque del Apache last month embodied a sense of spontaneity that I don’t think we’ve ever really embraced. Yesterday we packed up for an evening out. We ate at another new place—the Route 66-style Owl Café, and loved it. We did some unexpected shopping and then drove around looking for a place to get a treat. And even though we are up to our eyebrows in Girl Scout cookie season, we stopped at ABQ Uptown to visit the newly-opened Nestle Tollhouse shop and get some warm cookies the size of Evan’s face. (Ryan ate a brownie bar that weighed as much as the baby, I swear.)

And so here’s to the other signs of spring, to short-sleeved shirts and no more coats, to Spring Training this month and Isotopes games next, to an end of allergy season, to General Conference and Easter, to spring break and field trips, and to planting growing things in the ground, smelling the earth and getting your hands dirty once more. And, I suppose, some windy afternoons, just to make us appreciate it all that much more.