Has Anyone Seen My Coat?

A page is turned in this world to reveal a little girl
With a heart that's bigger, as it is unfurled
By the language in her soul, that's teaching her to grow
With a careful cover of love that will not fail.
-Bebo Norman, A Page Is Turned

That's me.

I spent an hour or so today sitting in a tree, enjoying the glorious weather, and thinking. Interestingly, it was the same tree that I sat in last fall on the day I wrote my first facebook note. My, how things have changed. Before, I was impatiently waiting for much more than just autumn. Today, perched much higher (as I've become a stronger, more confident climber) in this dear old tree, I was able to be still and listen to the birds.

Soon I could hear the small group of musicians - some professors, some students - that has, in recent weeks, taken to playing together in the courtyard outside the ecology building on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Like most things unusual and unique, these fellows have taken up residence in a special place in my heart - especially the fiddlers and the old white-headed men with long beards and suspenders.

Springtime is upon us. I want to laugh when I think back to that day in September; I was so eager for winter, for the progression of life, for change. Figuratively, my winter came quickly, and was cold and dark. Fortunately, it did not last long. Sitting in that tree, I thought about one of my favorite scenes from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. After they cross The Great River, the group thinks they've lost Lucy, but she turns up, asking if anyone has seen her coat. They are all so relieved at her return that only Mrs. Beaver notices the flowers and trees blooming before their very eyes. "I don't think you'll be needing those coats anymore!" she says.

See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me.
-Song of Songs 2:11-13