I haven’t updated in a while, but the weather outside is so beautiful. Can you blame me? I spent last weekend enjoying the sun and the snow of the mountains, but that is for another post. I’m still recovering from one of the worst sunburns that I have had in over 5 years. When I went to the mountains, I wasn’t expecting 70 degrees temperatures. But like I said, that’s all for another blog.

It is officially springtime in Southwest Romania. I awoke this morning to the sound of the soft spring rain falling on the aluminum of the bee boxes outside my window.  The rains have come. The grass has grown. The flowers have bloomed. The Earth is refreshed. And I’m in love with the whole world.

Having lived in Florida for 5 years prior to this adventure, observing the season changes is still an alien experience. Everyday when I emerge from the cocoon of my room, I am greeted with visible changes. The onions have begun sprouting in the garden. Pink and green leaves are beginning to bud from the jumbled mess of grape vines. More and more tulips are blooming along the walkway. The world is alive. The ground is soft. And the air is sweet.

Over the last few days, despite a heavy workload, I have been venturing away from home for evening walks. The thing I have noticed most is the smell of spring. Everything is enveloped in an overwhelmingly fresh and sweet scent. The river, the ground, the grass, the pavement, the flowers, everything is bathed in renewal after a long and hard winter. I open my windows wide every morning and am greeted with the candy sweet scent of apple blossoms, the fresh scent of grass damp with dew, the refreshing scent of cut wood, the pungent scent of smoke.

The long, sunny days have afforded me the privilege of working outside. I don’t have an office, or a place where I go for work (unless I’m going to school for class). I work out of my ever so tiny bedroom. Now that the weather is nice, I’ve spent the last few days with my flipchart paper spread over the large table in the front yard with markers in hand. Needless to say, I’ve got a lot of work accomplished for my upcoming 4-H environmental workshop.

The animals enjoy the spring as well. Our cat, Bella, had been missing for a few days. She showed up yesterday from her mystery voyage, crying outside of my window. My gazda mom, Vica lead me to the barn today to show me what Bella had been up to during her time away. We now have three beautiful, fuzzy, newborn tri-colored kittens. They are so small, their eyes haven’t opened yet. Vica informed me that it would be 9 days until they open their eyes. I got to hold the tiny kittens. They let out a barely audible squeak when I picked them up. With the spring, come baby animals. The cycle of life has never been more visible to me than now on our small farm.

These days are to be treasured. I walk around the yard with the sun happily shining on my shoulders. The ducks run between my feet and Toto, the dog, tries to jump on me. Rain storms arrive in the late afternoon and bathe land with soft, cool rains. The first thunderstorms have begun to brew, signaling the ever quickly approaching summer. Spring is here, in all of its newborn glory. The land is refreshed and so am I. This is life at its most simple, its most pure, and its most beautiful. This is the epicenter of my life, where things are happening, and I am in love with it all.

Hard at work on flipcharts in my outdoor "office"