Can you feel it? The shift in the weather…finally! Here in North Carolina, we were dealing with overnight frost and chilly mornings for so long that spring seemed like a distant fantasy. Now that it’s finally here (fingers crossed!) I'm spending more time outside with the dogs, taking long walks down the road, through the trees, watching Mother Nature navigate her yearly rebirth.
When I lived in western New York, spring was a bit slower coming as winter dug its claws in, trying desperately to hang on, refusing to let go. When the last of the ice finally melted, I was able to return to the place that gave me the most peace: Lake Erie.
Spring returned the lake to me.
She was a little worse for wear, still a bit windblown and winter torn, but there she was, waiting. Slowly, people returned cautiously, slivers of doubt lingering– “Is it really spring? Dare we believe that winter has finally retreated?” And for me, it meant breathing in air that would not freeze my lungs, making every breath hurt. It meant walking along the beach waiting for the sun to rise–or set–and searching for the beach glass that had been so ironically softened by the cold, tossed about in freezing, wild, winter waves, before hibernating under the ice and snow that trapped it for the remainder of the season.
Friends, it is beach glass season. Finally.
Beach glass is not a typical stone or gem because nature alone did not create it. She simply lent a hand in its reformation. Human-made glass, broken by anger or elements, taken for a spin in the lake, washed clean and rebirthed. A perfect metaphor for spring. What was once dangerous and untamed becomes soft and smooth, ready to be held and cherished.
And that’s where I’m at. Ready for spring, grateful for her unearthing of these glassy treasures so I can, in turn, create jewelry for you that will remind you of warmer days and the changing of seasons.
