Anticipation. It’s the brain tracing the faint scent of hope, even joy, in the future. It’s the awakening to the promise of change…of new, rich, experience.

The antithesis of the Polar Bear Plunge awaits.

The long winter ends, rain replaces snow; the sun penetrates the reluctant clouds…and we bask in it’s splendor.

I sat in the Park movie theater in Ozone Park Queens  next to the first date of my life. We were students at St. Clement’s School, we were 13. When we came in I remember telling her to tell the cashier she was 12 so it would only cost 25 cents for the two of us. As we sat watching the movie I bravely put my arm around her shoulders. Our foreheads touched near the temple. I became flushed with a strange lightness. It was the anticipation of my first opportunity to kiss a girl. I’ll always remember Edwina. Yes, those were days of traditional names, names that came down through the generations, those were the sepia days of fountain-served six cents cherry cokes.

Early spring is upon us, we burst in anticipation, it’s as if spring itself released its own pheromones to entice the winter weary, much like the anticipation of that first kiss. It might not bring a flush to your face but it will rev up the eagerness within. The days will soon be warm and long and kind. Early spring near the beach is rich with the anticipation of the summer ahead. It’s the stiff, cold ocean breeze tempered with the warmth of the sun’s promise.

Walk a block or two from the beach and there’s a late-spring feel as the effect of the onshore wind over the cold sea ebbs even after it travels only a few blocks.

Walk those streets and there’s the bliss of bird songs calling from the trees. Then there’s the buzz of business: scaffolds and cherry pickers going up, old siding and windows coming down. Hammers pounding on shingled roofs like crazed woodpeckers. An annoyance to many but to me it’s still a good sound of spring. It’s the sound of homes being improved and most importantly…workers able to work. To labor families those rough sounds are as sweet as the songs of robins and mockingbirds.

The roar of of landscapers’ blowers fill the air as fall’s leaves and winter’s felled branches are finally displaced. The first renewal of garden and lawn is at hand as earth is opened up to air and sun. The ground gulps the air, it breaths again, the dormancy is over, green life is ready to spring into spring. Then burst into color.

The caterpillar view of the flower tower:

Walk Long Beach’s magnificent new boardwalk and there are trikes and skateboards and joggers and striders.

Canes and walkers and wheels help the willing.

The playground is filled with tots climbing and swinging and sliding…and laughing then falling then crying.

The beach and boardwalk burst with surfers and scooters and sunners.

Selfies in the sunshine.

A day of meditation or fascination.

The cozy-cocooned, so comfy in the sun with a hard cover’ed book.

Moms and tykes on tandem bikes:

Yes, these fantastic days are filled with fun. But the bliss is in the anticipation.  Early spring, the pre-dawn of summer. Coast the sea-breeze of it. Suck it in, fill your lungs.  Embrace it, kiss it,  feel the rush, know the thrill.

Carpe diem!

Fly with life.

Hallelujah Baby!

The kiss.

I kissed sweet Edwina

at her front door.

her dad heard us there,

and bellowed a roar.

The kiss was worth

his consternation,

but what stays with me

is that anticipation.

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Thank you.

Be well,

Lee