More Time in Brightness

A short piece in honor of the vernal equinox

Aabye-Gayle F.
2 min readMar 20, 2023
Sunrise through budding trees.
From my balcony…first light on the first day of spring (which begins at 5:24pm EST).

A moment of silence for the passing of winter. Her season has ended, so we bid her farewell. She will be best remembered for her beautiful snow coverings — her unique bleached tapestries. She could coat anything in white — from cars to homes to mountains.

It is true that she could be biting. Her blustering winds blew unapologetically. But do not mistake her coldness for a lack of love. It pleased her to make sledding and snow days possible. She enjoyed her work: prompting migrations, encouraging hibernations, freezing over ponds for ice-skating. She appreciated every snowman and snow angel she engendered — delighted every time a snowflake was caught by a child’s tongue.

Winter wasn’t always easy to love, but she had her gifts. How would we ever fully appreciate being cozy without her contrasting cold?

Spring is taking over. She has graciously agreed to display her unique beauties. Having pried the climate from winter’s severe and frigid grip, spring is making adjustments befitting the temperament of her season.

She is stretching out the daylight hours to hold more time in brightness. She will see that the sun’s lease on each day is incrementally extended.

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