Kim Wilbanks

We are one week into spring; it is probably my favorite season. I love sunny days with clear blue skies, especially when contrasted with the new baby green leaves. The colorful flowers that bloom in spring always brighten my day. It’s also the time I start thinking about travel. Spring is a hopeful season, a season of beginnings. 

Springtime In Florida

I live in central Florida so the change from winter to spring is not as drastic as in other parts of the country but, we do see change. It’s not usually very cold in winter, at least not for long periods, and it rarely snows, although when I was in high school, we got about half an inch. You would have thought it was a blizzard! 

Another thing that is different in central Florida is the timing of our blooms. We start a little earlier than the rest of the country. Most flowering trees like the Japanese Magnolia and Tabebuia in my mother’s yard bloomed in February. The azaleas were in full bloom in February as well. 

By the time we hit spring on the calendar, we often feel like summer, unless there is a brief cold snap during spring break like this year. I always feel bad for the tourists who come south to sunny Florida and are met with a week of temperatures in the fifties.

One of my favorite signs of spring is the new, baby green leaves on the trees. I have four trees in my yard that hint at winter. They are bare for a few months, usually from sometime in late December until March. Then slowly, buds form on the ends of the branches and pale green leaves begin to unfurl. I like to make a game of it with my favorite tree, a maple. I spotted the first new leaf on the twelfth of March. It won’t be long until it’s full of leaves offering a shady spot for my dog who loves to sit outside and watch the world go by.

Traveling In Spring

Spring is also a time for travel. One of my best friends and I go on a trip during March Madness. Our husbands love to watch the college basketball tournament but we can’t tolerate the endless games and squeaky shoes so we get out of town. We try to go during the first week of the tournament when there are 5,647 games. Just kidding, there are actually only thirty-two games, it just seems like more.

We started our March Madness trips back in 2014. We had to cancel one trip due to illness and the pandemic shut down our planned trip to NYC in 2020. In the past couple of years, we included another friend who had recently retired but she couldn’t make it this year.

This year was our eighth trip and probably our most ambitious. We literally flew across the country to visit Napa California. It exceeded our expectations. We were both blown away by how beautiful that part of the country is — rolling hills covered with grape vines, blue skies (for the most part), and spring flowers everywhere. It was beautiful even though the vines were dormant, without leaves or fruit.

In a few days, I am traveling in a completely different direction. I’m traveling “across the pond” with two other friends. We planned our whirlwind trip to London last year as we returned from a quick trip to NYC. 

Before spring turns to summer, I have yet another trip planned with another friend. Can you sense a theme in my life?

All of these ladies are empty nesters like me. One is actually almost an empty nester but we all have adult children who are living their own lives. They don’t need us to the extent that they did when they were children so we have the freedom to explore the world in our new roles. I am so thankful for that because sometimes I get stuck longing for those past days when I was a hands-on mom.

The Best Thing About Spring

The best thing about spring is that it is a season of new beginnings, a season of hope. The year is laid out in front of us with so many possibilities, like who we are going to be and what we are going to do with ourselves in this new season of life. It can be a little scary too because we don’t really know what’s in store for us in the year ahead. 

Most importantly, it is a season of the ultimate hope we all have in Jesus. As a believer, in this season of Lent, we are especially attuned to what Jesus did for us with his life, ministry, and death on the cross. Whether the year ahead is joyful and full of happy times or painful and difficult, we can live with hope because he didn’t stay dead. He arose and he lives — promising to be with us always.

How about you? What is your favorite part about spring? Does it look like spring yet where you live? What are the signs? I’d love to know.