The List: Hope for Spring

In the coldest months of the year, we look to the spring for hope. My eagerness for spring manifests in The List. Each year I am giddy to write The List on a small scrap of paper, the back of a receipt, a post it. To make a plan. 

Flipping through the pages of the Gurney Seed Catalog, I can imagine the coming months, and I note the images that inspire me. I jot down the names that I will help and watch grow and that will nourish those I love. The List motivates me to work towards those warmer, sunnier days.

In the midst of the especially dark and strange March that recently passed us by, in the isolation of home, I was waiting for The Seeds from The List to arrive. Not much else remained normal. Retreats have been canceled or rescheduled. Work has been from home. Conversations have been digital. Meals have been cobbled together from pantry staples. But waiting for The Seeds continued to be exciting. 

Their arrival brought joy and anticipation. I can now touch the future.

Now, throughout April, The Seeds are sprouting. Getting a head start inside of the sunroom while the outdoors are still too harsh. They are preparing for their transition, for the challenges that they will face as they carry on with spring. They are growing quickly. Getting ready to be outside in the garden where they are supposed to be — when the time is right.

With COVID-19 changing the world in which we live, at least for the time being, The List making time came at the moment when I needed it more than ever. Now we continue to wait for more normal days to come. The sprouting seeds are a reminder that, with time, progress is made and things change. The plants will make their way outside when the time is right — sooner than one might expect. We too, with our abundant hope and prayers, will make our way outside when the time is right.