Yesterday I was walking and I was noticing the trees. There is definitely something happening there. They are red-tipped. The whole glorious mountain was red in the sunset. It seems early. We have had such a mild winter that the trees are eager to begin their cycle of rebirth in the middle of January. I was walking back from meeting my friend for coffee. We are so like the trees, she and I. Things we have been growing  and forming for a long time are coming to life. 2013 feels like the beginning of a new cycle. A cycle that is nourished and birthed by all that has come before. It’s been ten years since I’ve been in the hospital. I was there the other day meeting with someone. I was passing through the gray cinderblock stairwell between floors and I remembered. I remembered what it felt like to be a patient there. It felt like those walls. It felt like the locks on the doors. It felt small and hard and so much the opposite of beautiful. Ten years is a long time. I am ready for beautiful. I am ready to stand tall and alive under the sun and the rain and the limitless stars of the midnight sky. I am ready to let the wind touch my face and whisper its secret of new possibilities. I have walked long and far under the winter sky and I have seen its value. I have grown and remembered and have been thankful for where I have been and who I have become. Now I am ready to let the birds and the squirrels nest in my branches. I am ready to be a part of the beautiful cycle of the seasons. I am ready for spring.