For those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere - Spring has arrived. At our little house, even the pugs have spring fever. This week the pugs and I sat in our garden and listened to the seeds opening on our pine tree - you can actually hear them 'pop'.
People have various ways of celebrating Spring, but I think we all agree that Spring is a time of birth and renewal.
The Japanese feel that spring blossoms remind us of the short, beautiful nature of life.
The Spring of my childhood was a bizarre combination of many things - the start of tornado season, a new dress for Sunday school and a grandmother who took the task of hiding Easter Eggs very seriously - it wasn't unusual to stumble upon a colourful but stinky hard-boiled egg in the middle of July.
I personally like the way the Greeks and Romans explain Spring, the story goes something like this:
Demeter, aka Mother Earth, is looking for her beloved daughter Persephone. At first she tries to stay calm, after all Persephone is a good kid - well there was that one time she stayed out late with the nymphs, but all in all she was a typical teen.
Demeter searched everywhere for nine days, she veiled herself as a dark cloud and travelled all over the earth looking for her baby girl - little did she know that Hermes (the god of the underworld) had kidnapped Persephone and taken her to his home.
Demeter was so sad at the loss of her daughter that she took some sick leave. The trees started losing their leaves, and the days started to get dark and cold - everything soon became barren.
Persephone was forced into marriage with Hermes, and it was obvious the gods would have to intervene. They decided that Demeter and Hermes would get joint custody - Demeter would have her daughter every Spring and Summer, and Hermes would have his unwilling bride every Fall and Winter.
When Persephone is home, her mother and the earth rejoice, and everything comes alive.
People have various ways of celebrating Spring, but I think we all agree that Spring is a time of birth and renewal.
The Japanese feel that spring blossoms remind us of the short, beautiful nature of life.
The Spring of my childhood was a bizarre combination of many things - the start of tornado season, a new dress for Sunday school and a grandmother who took the task of hiding Easter Eggs very seriously - it wasn't unusual to stumble upon a colourful but stinky hard-boiled egg in the middle of July.
I personally like the way the Greeks and Romans explain Spring, the story goes something like this:
Demeter, aka Mother Earth, is looking for her beloved daughter Persephone. At first she tries to stay calm, after all Persephone is a good kid - well there was that one time she stayed out late with the nymphs, but all in all she was a typical teen.
Demeter searched everywhere for nine days, she veiled herself as a dark cloud and travelled all over the earth looking for her baby girl - little did she know that Hermes (the god of the underworld) had kidnapped Persephone and taken her to his home.
Demeter was so sad at the loss of her daughter that she took some sick leave. The trees started losing their leaves, and the days started to get dark and cold - everything soon became barren.
Persephone was forced into marriage with Hermes, and it was obvious the gods would have to intervene. They decided that Demeter and Hermes would get joint custody - Demeter would have her daughter every Spring and Summer, and Hermes would have his unwilling bride every Fall and Winter.
When Persephone is home, her mother and the earth rejoice, and everything comes alive.
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