“Spring is here, oh spring is here, life is Skittles, and life is beer,” sings Tom Lehrer in his ballad, “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.”
Before you throw down your paper in disgust (or maybe, if you’re not a fan of pigeons, pump your fist in the air as you run off to the nearest Lowe’s for a bottle of cyanide), wait — this letter is in no way advocating pigeon genocide. I’m thinking more along the lines of Skittles and beer.
Spring is here, and with it, birds are crooning love songs, flowers are revealing reproductive organs to expose blushing blossoms. Booty shorts make a comeback as women make their first attempts to tan their legs, turned ghostly white from the winter months.
Hippies vibrate the walls of the Center of the Universe with reverberating drumbeats.
The Duck Pond once again becomes a thriving metropolis, its gravity beckoning like a whirling vortex, whispering, “Who cares about midterms? Come lounge in the sun’s rays beside canopies of cherry blossoms! Read a book. Smoke a cigarette. Chat with friends. Perfect that tan. Anything but work!”
Ah yes, with spring comes spring fever.
While the world outside the classroom and library walls bursts at the seams with rejuvenation, you grudgingly muster your inner will to write that paper, study for that exam, come up with a captivating hook with which to begin your presentation tomorrow morning.
It’s important to do your work, but keep the spirit of spring inside you. Put a little skip in your step on your way to class, like Dorothy on her way to see the wizard. Walk barefoot like a flower child; hell, put some flowers in your hair while you’re at it.
Do an ollie off the stairs in front of Zimmerman Library, indulging in some campus parkour. Climb up to the top of the Chemistry Building after lab (don’t get caught). Suck in your breath when you catch sight of the vibrant colors of sunset. Drink a beer on the patio of your favorite bar. When you get home, drink another beer on the stoop of your porch, and strum some tunes on your guitar. Get your friends to sing along. Go for a midnight bike ride, and as you fly down the empty streets. Take a deep breath of the cool nighttime air.
We are extremely lucky to live a life that allows us to indulge in life’s pleasures and expand our minds on a daily basis. Hopefully being in school does that for you.
If not, you might want to rethink your major. Just sayin’. Not everyone in the world has it this good, remember?
It’s easy to get caught up worrying about your grades, boyfriends, girlfriends, whether to buy that blue halter-top or those white booty shorts. Heck, you can spend all day worrying about your petty problems.
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But does it really matter? Being the busy little bees that we are, it’s easy to lose sight of life’s bigger questions and the world’s bigger problems that are conveniently veiled from our blissful existence.
So take a minute to feel the grass under your toes. Inhale the sweet scent of flower blossoms. Watch the clouds assimilate into dragons, only to disassemble into wispy trails moments later.
But go to class. Stay in school. Because you have the potential inside of you to push the limits of man’s understanding of the world, cure the illnesses that decimate children in that oh-so-far-away third world.
You can design and build houses with rooftop gardens and solar panels.
You can run for president. Remember when you were a kid and dreamed about what you wanted to be when you grew up? Don’t lose sight of that. If you do, that kid inside you will be awfully disappointed.
As the Reverend J.O. Graham wrote, “Each of us should remember that we are writing our eulogy every day of our lives.”
Enjoy every spring, year after year, because someday, it will be your last. And you will want to remember all of the times the silky fragrances of flower blossoms tickled your nostrils.
But just the same, you will want to remember that time when you finally blossomed into the person that made the world a better place.
