The Return of Persephone

Ah, spring. You can almost feel Demeter getting up, dusting off her dress and start her preparations for the return of her daughter, Persephone. The days are getting longer, the snow is melting and dare I say, it's starting to get warmer. However, we're probably still a few weeks away from Persephone's return.

This time of year always places me between Demeter and Hades (a rock and a hard place, almost literally). I miss the snow, the cold, the ice. The cozy fires, the fuzzy socks, the winter jackets with spacious pockets galore. But there is something about that first warm spring-ish day that causes you to shed layers that makes all the below zero temps, the wind holds and the frosted goggles worth it. You remind yourself "this is truly why I ski." I almost don't blame Hades for kidnapping young Persephone and giving the world winter, even at the expense of Demeter's happiness.

On days like today when the thermometer reaches the upper 40s, I begin to look forward to warmer days and green foliage. I'm especially looking forward to the use of a new in-ground pool and pool house in the backyard. We are on the edge of the season the rest of the world calls 'spring' but here in Vermont it is fondly known as 'mud.' But from the mud comes flowers, grass and fuzzy baby things.