ABOUT THIS TIME last year, I had recently returned from an overseas trip to the Promised Land of Israel — the last time, by the way, I boarded a commercial airline to this day.

Within days of the return, I have such vivid memories of frantically running around town trying to stock my bathrooms with rolls of toilet paper and my pantry with food staples that would last through an apocalypse. Life as we knew it had changed. It gives me goose bumps when I ponder that spring of 2020, one long year ago.

It was a surreal time in our lives. Frightening, unnerving, and sometimes dark. Time stood still. Every new day seemed like the day before, and the day before, and so on, and so on. Spring turned to summer, summer to fall, then fall to winter — with the hopes of the dawning of a new day when January 2121 rolled around, only to find that the universe was not quite ready to return to the way it once was. We had a little more turmoil in store for us.

But early this morning as I practiced my morning yoga outside in my back yard, I was acutely aware of my surroundings. And as I gazed out into the copper and umber colors of the dead plants the recent freeze left behind, I saw tiny bright green leaves beginning to decorate the tips of the blistered tree branches. I actually had to blink my eyes to gain perfect focus, making sure it wasn't a mirage. Once I confirmed the green leaf blossoms were real, I immediately started hearing the happy birds singing their symphony. They were there all along, but it had taken me a few minutes to recognize their songs.

Spring is here, my friends. And the promise of springtime rebirth has never been more meaningful than at this very moment. We have an opportunity for a renewed existence, a new way to get back into our old habits and ways of living, only better. And it feels so good.

Despite one full year of hardships, so many have remained positive, optimistic and altruistic. It is with these attributes that we should leap into spring as we kick Covid, politics and crazy winter weather to the curb. We are reborn! Let's celebrate — mask-free, if you choose!