Fall Back. Spring Forward. Fade Out.

by Paula Matter

Spring. My favorite time of the year. I love moving the clocks ahead, giving us more daylight. I love seeing the sun set later and later. Just seeing the sun brightens my day! After the awful winter I had, well, more on that later.

Although I don't know the names of all plants, trees and flowers in my yard, they're all bursting with buds. Two trees we thought we were going to lose last fall look happier this spring. And the grass is green! The daffodils (I do know what they are) are in full bloom.

Spring, glorious spring. A time for rebirth. Beginnings. I nearly shouted with joy when I saw my first robin a week or so ago. And a bluejay! Yeah, I know that little guy over there isn't a bluejay, but I'm kind of in a hurry and didn't spend time looking for the correct image.

I haven't seen any butterflies yet, but they can't be too far behind. And bumblebees! Their arrival means the flowers are in full bloom. 

Aren't these the prettiest pictures? So bright, colorful, cheerful. I chose them to make what I have to say a little easier for me. My blogmates and our regular readers know I haven't posted since last year. Instead I invited a bunch of great authors to appear on my scheduled days during the last three months.

I used those three months to weigh the pros and cons of a decision I knew I had to make. A very important decision. And today was my self-imposed deadline for that decision. Once I type the words here, that's it. I won't take them back. There are no do overs which is why I took my time coming to this decision.

Wow. This is much harder than I thought. Okay. Here goes. I've quit writing.

I'm just not cut out for it. Writing well takes discipline, perseverance, confidence, and talent. On a good day I might've accomplished one, two, maybe three of those, but there weren't enough good days. I know when I'm beat.

So instead of wasting my time agonizing over the right word, the right sentence, the right scene, I'm giving up. I have plenty of projects around the house to keep me busy. So much spring cleaning to do! Maybe I'll learn the names of all the plants, trees and flowers.

Thanks for reading. I wish you all the best.