by Joe Stewart, Better Waverly resident

To me spring says “survival” after way too many long dark days during dead of winter.

Buds promise splashes of color; birds chirp odes of joy and I see myself wading in our rivers and bay. Swimming for me in open water is akin to being born again in passionate pagan ritual and celebration!

Sliding barefoot into the slimy salty ooze of our Patapsco or Chesapeake is an emersion deep in meaning for me. I sense “from where we came millions of years ago”, shivering outside normal bounds of gravity, with wind and waves bouncing me about and the moon pulling me back and forth.

I don’t recommend you try this before knowing how to swim and please stay close to shore until you know you won’t panic or be overpowered by those tides and currents.

You may not even like the water. I am sure it is the solitary quality of my swims making it special to me. So, selfishly, I don’t want everyone in my lane when I am out at sea.

But I am certain many of you have a similar reaction to the arrival of this new season.

Yours may be to garden and plant, to cycle, walk or run or perhaps to sit under a tree reading a book. Maybe you get high thinking about spring cleaning or washing your car.

We may be in a depression. Economically things may even get worse before they are better; but surely some things in life are still free and worth getting out and enjoying.

What does spring signify for you?

What makes it worth waiting through another winter for you to appreciate here?

If you would like to know more about open water swimming, how to contribute to the urban watershed groups I am raising funds for with my May 17th swim or want to read my poem, On Swimming an Estuary, contact me directly: jstewart@dat.state.md.us