Begin Anew

Begin Anew - 早春

Spring is coming to town. It just seems that way, here, there and everywhere if one pays close attention to it.

Technically speaking, springtime should start, on paper,  on March 20th. But, like anything else in this city, schedule is only the part of the story, nothing follows exactly the scripts. And among all types of possible offenders, weather probably is the most elusive and the worst ones. :)

Every morning in the whole winter if I was not out of town, and weather permitted (no snow storm, slush sleets or heavy rains), I ran in the park as a ritual to keep myself in shape. Along my normal trail, I'd, with help of my vigilant sensors, pick up the slightest difference from that of the previous day, comparing with it and other stored data in my brain and try to make some sense of them. It's a simple mind exercise I’ve enjoyed doing for years as a cost-effective way to "kill" the boredom and loneliness let alone to keep me safe and sound. Such mind game alerted me, few times, to avoid the lurking dangers, and most time it tells me the change of the season. For example, when I saw soldanella and crocuses poking their heads through the ground of melting snow, I know, winter is about ending, and a brand new spring is arriving.
 
To me, spring and autumn are two seasons I like the best in a year in this city. Unlike melancholic winter gray and monotonous summer green, spring and fall are not only beautiful and kaleidoscopic, but alive and poetic. Particularly, spring is so allure, dynamic and vibrant in my eye that jolts my mood uprising instantly, making me feel alive when I notice the changes on the ground and in the air. Such daily refreshment worked like an energy source to encourage me to explore something new or do something different each day. That is one of main reasons why I prefer to live in east coast over southern parts of America. In part, I like distinctive rotation of seasons; I can't see myself to live tropical place without missing the change of the seasons. I remember, about 10 years ago, I was invited to have Christmas holiday in Pasadena, California. Everything was going well, but when I saw a fake white beard Santa wore shorts outside of an entrance of the shopping mall, I felt a sense of weirdness, and at the same time, it made me almost have an urge to fly back to the east. Guys, let me make this clear, I have no intention to bash people who like to live in tropical and sub-tropical zones, and further, I believe that each of us should have the right to choose wherever he or she prefers to settle down.

In my mind, spring is just so magical as if there is someone who suddenly pushes a restart button and sets a brand new course on motion - everything appears moving: trees, bushes, all come to life, flowers burst into blossom, migration birds return … everything begins anew.

This early morning while I was running I wondered what if we humans have such similar privilege and capability to make our lives renew like spring once a while, what would happen, good or bad? :)

Note:

1) Put an instrumental version of song, "Begin Again", by Piano Guys. You can skip the last 30 seconds of promotional part at the end of clip.
I feel to be compelled to point it out that in Chinese people eyes, these two musicians might look crazy and creepy or 用流行说法就是: 他们看起来似乎“有点 2“. However, I give them credits for enthusiastically doing the thing that they are passionately drawn to and at the same time, enjoying what they are doing for the living.

 2) Also I put the original song sang by singer-songwriter Taylor Swift as a tribute to her creative work.

3) I'd like to thank 阿苏 for her help to write HTML codes to make the two video clips back to back possible.