Photo by Angela Kirk

“Yippy Skippy!” I yelled out loud as I rolled side to side in the grass. I was taking in the warmth and sweetness of the first days of spring, happy the harshness and gloom of winter was over. I must have yelled too loud as I looked over and saw that I had startled Doc as she sat on the porch step basking in the rays of the afternoon sun. She didn’t seem annoyed at the interruption, in fact she smiled sweetly and came over to join me in the grass.” Grover, do you think we have a greater appreciation for spring this year because of  what we have been through with the pandemic?” she asked asked thoughtfully.  We sat quietly for the longest time as we mulled this over.

Everything seems so much brighter and sweeter to me this spring because of what we have been through I thought to myself. For the first time I am starting to feel some hope that better days are ahead. Since Doc and some of her family and friends have been vaccinated she is cautiously being in contact with more people and I am just as happy to see them as she is. It’s like we had to create our own world and live in a bubble for a year to stay safe. Trying to achieve balance of having some pieces of normalcy with caution attached by making sure to always wash our hands and paws, wear a mask and stay six feet away has been contrary to what we all needed and desired as living beings but it’s how we remained well. In the back of my mind there was always my concern that Doc might get sick with COVID and then what would we do? And now here we are moving forward with cautious optimism.

When I looked over at Doc it was like we had been thinking the same thing. ” Spring is about rebirth and I am ready to move ahead.” Doc said. ” ” I agree, I retorted. Just don’t act like Girls Gone Wild now that you have your vaccine,” I told her with a smirk on my face. “Don’t worry,” she said with a laugh, neither of us can get too wild, we both have to work every day. As we lay there in the grass for a while longer I couldn’t help to be thankful for the lessons we have learned and the good health we have maintained.

” Spring is painted in daffodil yellows, robin egg blues, new grass green and the brightness of hope for a better life,” Toni Sorenson