Susan Senator

Yesterday was the first of March, as we all know. The proverbial Lion has arrived. I had a terrible day, and I’m sure that the gray crustiness that spread out before me everywhere I looked had a lot to do with it. Also, things have been really rough for a friend of mine/with a friend of mine. It is hard to keep one’s perspective (thank you, Andrew!) in what looks like the Dead of Winter (capitalized because it is a real institution to me, not simply an expression) even though I know spring lies just underneath the dirty gray blanket of snow. Even though I know my friend loves me, it is hard to feel it when things are like this.

Of course, happiness, like spring, lies quietly, hidden and muffled by all the noise that surrounds us. Last night, while picking the feta, spinach, and hot peppers off my pizza (I don’t eat the crust), I caught a snippet of Nat’s silly talk. He said, “Wimoweh,” very quietly.

“Wimoweh?!” I said.

“No Wimoweh,” Nat said. But he was smiling, my invitation.

I started humming The Lion Sleeps Tonight, softly, not looking at him, sneaking up on him the way I think he likes best. I peeked at him and he was listening intently, smiling. I kept going, for as long as he would let me. I eventually ran out of words; it is a fairly limited song, after all.

But Natty’s song, and his little secret smile, helped keep the lion in winter at bay, if for just a little while.