Spring fever throws a wrench into the writer’s handiwork

My beagle hound Shadow is in the same boat I'm in. He can afford to be lazy.

The gush of spring is strong enough
to play with the globe of earth like a ball on a fountain...
--from ‘Craving for Spring’ by D. H. Lawrence

Florida can be very challenging to productivity as spring comes on. I can’t really figure why. Here, there are no sharp definitions between seasons. A coral rose on my deck bloomed on Christmas Eve, an event that struck me as so amazing I wrote a poem about it. My reaction to that aromatic bloom was followed by the realization I was gauging winter here by upcountry Carolina standards, where snow always falls a few times each season and temperatures require a quilt on the bed most of the time.

I don’t think I’ve used a quilt since moving here four years ago.

Today I watched an assortment of cardinals, squirrels, and tiny sparrows take turns at the seed I scatter, and my restlessness made me want to turn away from work. I couldn’t do that. In the business of writing, especially if you’re an independent, spring is the go-crazy season.

I thought of Lawrence’s poem, ‘Craving for Spring,’ and realized the line that includes "play with the globe of earth like a ball on a fountain" perfectly describes what spring does to my brain.

Window-gazing fits most writers’ personalities—we are, after all, famous procrastinators. I must remind myself to take time to procrastinate soon.