A radiant spring day

The sun had finally broken free of the chains that had been a cold and dreary winter. The warm golden rays penetrating through the heavy gray clouds that had hung in the sky like a thick wool blanket, replacing them with soft fluffy white ones. The sky had returned to it's pale blue color filling the horizon with birds of every kind. Their happy chirping signifying that wonderful change in season which causes the heart to be filled with the joy of the new and living.

The warmth of this day was enough to arouse the little ones from their wintery comas and take to the streets on their bicycles, turning about in culdesacs, and jumping small ramps. Large, green oak leaves hung low over sidewalks, on sagging branches, which the children ran their bikes underneath, slapping the tops of their heads in an amusing fashion. They would start at one end peddling quickly, then jump the cracks which the oak trees roots had caused, lifting themselves in their seats, letting the soft leaves graze their heads. They giggled as though no one else had ever done such things, and that this moment in time was uniquely like no other.

Sounds of lawn mowers and weed eaters filled the air around the neighborhood, as folks took to the outdoors allowing the warmth of the sun to melt away what remained of the wintery slush. Their frozen souls dethawling with each strip of grass cut or row of weeds clipped along dull gray chain link fence lines. Beads of sweat now replaced cold shivers, and white tank tops, thick snow jackets.

Barbecues were lit once again; chicken legs and shish kabobs turning into scrumptious family get togethers, grilling atop open flames, filling noses everywhere with the smells of the new season. Children running around the yard with flash lights, hiding from one another behind thick trees and plush lawn furniture as the unlucky finder counts to thirty. Moms and dads enjoying the company of adult friends, sipping on frozen margaritas and cold beer, talking about other friends who couldn't make it. Ice tea that had brewed earlier in the open sun being stirred with two cups of sugar and slices of lemon, mom serving it to their friends, as dad sets out dishes of potato salad and baked beans. Paper plates, plastic silverware, sparkling glasses, joyful children, good friends, all fixtures of a radiant spring day.