Spring in New York

The first few days after we spring forward for daylight savings time have that freshness, that spring energy that cannot be replicated at any other time of the year.

It’s warm and certain smells we’ve forgotten have been unlocked in this new air. Not those icky, worldly summer in New York smells, but clean, innocent, earthy spring smells, of dirt and defrosting branches. The promise of a more outdoor life tantalizes us, and the bathing suits and jaunty striped sailor shirts in store windows begin to make sense.

This is our season, when we begin to remember what we didn’t know we’d forgotten, bringing up from beneath the earth our own treasure trove of hopes squirreled safely away, and the secrets we no longer need keep.

This is spring. This is freedom. This is the beginning.