In the past few weeks I have come to fully appreciate the validity of the age-old cliche of a city 'coming back to life'. I have witnessed this phenomenon with my own eyes. The nicest part about the transition from winter to spring so far hasn't necessarily been the weather itself (although the lingering warmth of proper sunshine fills my heart with proper joy), but more the change in people.
Winter is a time when we feel as though there is no option but to hunker down, wrap up and try to outlast the extremes of nature. It is rather like a battle forced upon us - be it a fight against the wind and ice on your unfortunately-necessary walk to work, or a tussle with the creeping cold clutching at your toes as you huddle under the (seemingly thin) blanket at night.
There was nothing to do but to fight it and survive.
But Spring is the returning of choice.
People here can now decide for themselves whether they want to rush to work in a lighter jacket, or mingle a little longer and try to lap up the sunshine; we can now choose whether we would rather wear socks to bed and kick them off in the night, or have cool toes until the bed warms as we doze off in comfort.
It is the choice alone that seems to be making people so much happier. I know for a fact that some are still choosing to spend their time indoors, close to a radiator or a warm oven, or in their favourite coffee shops, waiting for the full-fledged fun of summer - and they are happy just knowing that they could still step outside and it wouldn't be so bad. But others are choosing to linger a little longer in the streets, still wrapped in jacket and scarf, but smiling as the sun touches their face or watching mesmerised as the light dances off windows and puddles and the glasses and jewellery of people walking by. And they are happy that they can now linger, that they can now look up and smile, and can still go home to the comfort of a cosy chair and a cup of tea. You see, in winter we don't even have the choice of looking up - to risk your chin rising from your chest is to risk a blast of freezing air running unabated down the front of your jacket.
Now that it is Spring we can look each other in the eye again. Or not, as is our choice.
Yesterday Spring presented us with a choice - we could remain sheltered in our three streets of Edinburgh, knowing that we were never far from the safety of a warm drink or the calm of a cafe. Or we could grab at the sunshine, step out of the beloved comfort zone, and make something more of the day.
Needless to say, we chose the latter. Our Saturday trip south to Roslin (including the Rosslyn Chapel, Castle and Glen) was wonderfully refreshing, and is hopefully a good indicator of times to come, times which include better weather, more travel and much more choice.
