Spring: A Season of Recalibration
by Kirsten Lindsay
Spring has sprung! March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb! April showers bring May flowers! Generally, the platitudes associated with spring are relentlessly positive—we are told to expect a season of renewal, rebirth, and effortless growth.
The reality of spring in the Midwest is a bit more fraught: Wearing your Easter dress in 40-degree weather, new shoes mud-soaked during an egg hunt. End-of-school picnics with paper plates flying further than Frisbees. Running the Redbud or Memorial Marathon into cold rain and thirty mile an hour gusts. Spring Break – which takes place before spring actually starts, by the way – is not much of a break unless you leave the state (flashbacks to spring breaks in college when I was too broke to travel, staying home in the rain and fifty degrees while my sorority sisters went to Padre Island or Cancun, returning with beautiful early summer glows). And don’t even get me started on allergies.
In Oklahoma in particular, spring carries even heavier emotional weight. It is the season of the “dry line,” of tornado sirens, and the anniversary of the bombing. And while this spring has been exceptionally mild weather-wise, it is a season where our experience often clashes with the “rebirth” narrative the rest of the world expects us to feel.
Is this a depressing take on what is generally perceived as a wonderful season? And how do we cope when the world expects sunshine but our experience is cloudy?
This is something we can explore collectively as Rotarians. This year, our lunch speakers have reminded us that life rarely follows the “sunny and mild” script. Dr. Tipple spoke of the neonatology unit—because no one expects a premature baby. We’ve heard from the Dean McGee Eye Institute, the Ronald McDonald House, and advocates for Polio and Autism. These are organizations that exist specifically because life didn’t go as planned. In a couple of weeks, we will hear about an Oklahoman’s wrongful detention in Thailand— I’m pretty sure that presentation will be a stark reminder of how quickly a journey can veer off course. Rotary lunches are not just a chance to get out of the office for a couple hours or snag a great dessert. They offer a recalibration of our empathy. And the idea is that we leave Rotary reminded of the “service above self” value.
The Rotary Four-Way Test asks us, in part: Is it fair to all concerned? The truth is that “spring” in life isn’t always fair or easy. But we don’t just pull the covers over our heads and wait for better weather. We show up for the “premie” parents, make a donation to the Ronald McDonald house, vow to learn more about how to interact with an autistic coworker. We sign up for a shift as a Salvation Army bell ringer, even though it will cut into our Holiday shopping time. To me, that’s renewal: having the community and infrastructure to keep moving even when it’s pouring rain.
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