Spring (lente) has arrived in the Netherlands. Though not the spring of our friends in Atlanta whose legs are already peeking out under skirts and shorts into weather in the mid-70s or of our friends and family in the Northeast who only now are beginning to thaw. Rather, here, the daylight hours have already drastically increased – the time change much more  prominent at these higher latitudes – and the sun has begun to shine once again. At 60 degrees (*F) we throw off our winter woolens, allowing the Dutch sun to touch our skin for the first time for nearly half a year. In the park near our home spring flowers have begun to peek up through the earth, seeking the sunlight, and, before long, the wild rabbits will appear again at dusk.

“Today” by Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,

so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw

open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary’s cage,

indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths

and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight

that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight

on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants

from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,

holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,

well, today is just that kind of day.