As I stopped at the red light on my way to a date with a lap lane at the community center, the waning gibbous caught my eye, or rather, the moon reflected a beckoning light despite the brilliant blue surrounding all of our shared horizon. Astronauts know this space differently but today I am called by the silver fragment. Drawn upward by possibility and adventure, and all that must be for either of those to find a place in one’s scope. This is joy. This is spring. Here, today, in the green that magically appeared after recent rain and now sunshine.

Back East spring arrives with much anticipation. Longer days mean longer ventures outside, and the same is true here, but with a newly verdant carpet stretching across what’s been barren since last summer. I am halted by the delicate white flowers waving the sweetest welcome. Equinox rejoicing.

A prickly pear is not the picture of safety one would ever conjure but the delicate yellow flowers call for acknowledgment and admiration and always give me cause to pause. A defiant and triumphant blossom as fleeting as anything you wish to hold on to for just a bit longer than you ever can. Perfection in a day’s bloom.

A SoCal spring invites more bird song into our neighborhood, still unfamiliar but a similar tune I’ve known forever. Mysteries are always a draw. Who says what? Hummingbirds chatter endlessly, diving from here to there, fighting along their way, alighting for breathers, catching my attention as their red glows ruby.

Spring brings a dose of happiness like little else on this tiny planet of ours. Shocks of lilac and purple splinter the green beneath us while clouds move above. We stand as one people eating the fruits offered, calling for more. Today, happiness arrives as a full bounty.