By Sierra Kovash
Springtime is my absolute favorite time of year. I know I am in good company with 36 percent of American’s citing Spring as their favorite season (according to a Gallup Poll). Why wouldn’t it be everyone’s favorite time of year? We shake off the wintry chill and greet the warmth and enthusiasm of spring.
My first joy of spring is when the trees just barely start to bud out and the sun begins to rise from the horizon, and you look out into the woods and there is just barely a hue of green peaking through the woods. All while the redbuds add splashes of beauty far and wide, as they are one of the first to embrace spring.
Another delight of spring is getting to enjoy my new hobby of hiking. Our family has recently picked up this habit and it has been an amazing experience. We even hike with our 5-year-old, yes I said that right, our 5-year-old. He is a trooper. If you are interested in hiking I highly suggest the website alltrails.com (Bryan County Patriot is not getting paid for that plug), but it is an awesome website to get information about trails far and wide. It is especially useful for all the local trails that most locals have no idea about.
Finally, I will share with you my absolute favorite thing about spring. WILDFLOWERS! Every year I wait with bated breath for the first flowers to bloom. Yellow, then white, then purple, then pink, but those aren’t the ones I hold out for… I am watching, waiting, searching, for the Indian Paintbrush. The Indian Paintbrush has always been my favorite flower, even as a little girl. The bright red has always made my heart sing. I’ve spent hours out in the fields of my family’s farms picking flowers and making countless bouquet’s of wildflowers for my grandmothers and mother. They would go in mason jars, old glass vases, or little tiny jelly jars…depending on how many flowers I stole from the flower gardens.
Now my son follows suit, he seems to have an insatiable urge to pick flowers for everyone he knows. He even begs his father to not cut the grass because it will cut the dandelions and purple deadnettles down. Since he could walk, he has picked every colorful thing he could reach and pull on. Trust me, I have tried to curb this habit and teach him when it is not appropriate, but he sure is cute.
“Let’s be wildflowers, let our souls be scattered by the wind. Let us grow, wild and free, tall and brave, in the places that we dream, in the places where our longings are filled. Let us grow between the cracks of brokenness, and we will make everything beautiful.” ~ G.C.