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Spring has sprung, as we say in English. We have been saying for weeks that spring is just around the corner. And now the astronomical spring, also known as the Vernal equinox, when the sun crossed the celestial equator going north. For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, this was the Autumnal equinox, and you have my sympathy. Spring is a wonderful time of year! So, let’s explore idioms and vocabulary about spring and the spring season. Does anything spring to mind?

One of the first signs of spring is the change of the clocks to daylight saving time, something I discussed in a blog post last year. We use the expression spring ahead to help us remember to set the clocks ahead one hour.

This season puts many people in a positive and happy mood. It puts a spring in their step!

Hope springs eternal in every human breast is a phrase from Alexander Pope’s 1732 poem, An Essay on Man. The timeless wisdom of that phrase has turned it into a proverb, which we have shortened to Hope springs eternal! Baseball fans everywhere, hoping for a successful season for their team, utter that phrase every year when spring training ends and the baseball season returns in April.

We associate the spring season with plants and gardens and think of the season as a time of renewal and early growth. The verb spring is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as an intransitive verb meaning to shoot up or out, and the noun shoot is defined as a sending out of new growth, or the early growth itself. So, there’s a direct link between spring and gardens. If you want proof of spring’s arrival, look for new shoots in your garden! Your garden is, as the idiom says, full of the promise of spring.

Perennial plants, which grow back every year, lay dormant underground all winter. Then, in spring, they rise to greet us. They spring to life.

Spring fever is a common condition at this time of year when people feel a little restless and want to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and warmth.

You might, however, take a little time to make the house and your surroundings look a little better after the dark months of fall and winter. It’s time for some spring cleaning!

But, remember that spring can be full of the unexpected, like the weather. Sudden spring showers can pop up at any time. Take an umbrella with you. You never know when mother nature will spring something on you.

Be extra careful that your renewed energy doesn’t make you run into someone who isn’t quite so young and nimble as yourself. That older man walking down the path is no spring chicken.

But, while you’re out, take some time to appreciate nature and look for that first robin of spring!

There’s nothing like the smell of this season. The first cut grass of the new year, new buds on the trees, color returning to the garden. Spring is in the air!