I've got the itch!

Today is the last day of winter. Spring begins at 7:06 tomorrow morning (at least that's what the solar calendar tells us). The threat of cold temperatures and snow flurries during the next week tells me winter has no intention of leaving us any time soon. But its time here is fleeting.

The promise of spring gives me the itch and there's no cream to treat it. I've got the itch to get outside and clean up my yard after a winter of being battered and bruised. I've got the itch to get the cover off my pool and get it ready for swimming weather. I've got the itch to get the deck and outdoor furniture cleaned up and ready for warm days relaxing. I've got the itch for buying a new grill and cooking all our meals outside. I've got the itch to take long walks along the lake as I watch everything bloom and turn green. I've got the itch open my windows and allow the fresh breeze to blow through the house. I've got the itch to get my metal detector out and do some warm weather treasure hunting. I've got the itch for baseball season to begin. To sit on my deck with a cold beverage and listen to the Reds on radio.

It has been a long, cruel winter. It has been dark, dreary and gloomy. It has been cold. It has been snowy and icy at times. It has been a punishing blow to the psyche every day. It has been a grueling grind. But here's the thing about winter... it ends! It may not feel like it right now, but spring is coming. Try as it might, winter will give way to spring whether it wants to or not. When that happens I will rejoice in the glorious gift of spring God has given us a blessing for enduring the cold death known as winter. God is good. All the time.