Here are snow drops, bravely blooming on this last day of February in Connecticut. My mother always looked for them and for skunk cabbage in the marshes just when winter seemed to be lasting forever. They were a sure sign that spring was on its way, even though there might still be snow on the ground.

This got me thinking about change, and what winter things I might want to do before the real spring arrives. So instead of just waiting for spring, I thought it would be interesting to see how to say goodbye to winter. Let’s look at two categories:

Girl stuff:  girls like to clean out closets, reorganize drawers, get junk out of the basement, have a clear inventory of what they have, and in small ways and large, create order out of chaos. Time Magazine, in the February 27th/March 6th issue, has a wonderful article by Scott Sonenshein on “How to create more from what you already have.” As he writes:  “the science of stretching offers an effective, more fulfilling alternative that invigorates us to do more without needing more.” And he adds at the end of the article:  “You already have everything you need to succeed. Just stretch.”

That is exciting. It’s like yoga for the mind. It taps into our creativity, and the fun of improvising. Okay, now on to the boy stuff:  boys often like to build things, fix things, figure out how things work, split wood, make noise, make a mess, be outdoors. And of course many girls like these things too, just as many boys may be really good at cooking, cleaning, organizing.

Think of one thing you can do today that helps you say goodbye to winter. It might be doing something that you won’t want to do once the weather is nice outside. It could be giving yourself time to look at the seed catalogs and start planning your garden. Or it might be seeing what kind of soup you can make with what you already have in your kitchen. Just like the brave snowdrops that make me smile every time I see them, find something that gives you the same kind of lift as a warm, spring day.