Een nieuwe lente en een nieuw geluid:
Ik wil dat dit lied klinkt als het gefluit,
Dat ik vaak hoorde voor een zomernacht
In een oud stadje, langs de watergracht –
This is the beginning of Herman Gorter's well-known poem Mei, with which he made his official debut as a poet in 1889 and on which he had worked in isolation for months. The first line of verse is perhaps one of the most well-known lines in Dutch literature and reflects the desire of all of us for the annual spring festival. Because although every season has its special appeal, spring has the most magical effect on us. Is this because of a new beginning after a long hibernation? The end of the cold winter, a never-ending period of snow and frost, which makes you eagerly look forward to spring? When the snowdrops and crocuses raise their heads above the ground, we almost cheer them on. Then the light, fresh spring green appears on trees and shrubs. The chirping of birds in the early morning light and the lambs are also springtime messengers par excellence. Rien Poortvliet was already longing for spring in the month of February, as can be seen in his watercolor with buzzard, elderberry and little lamb: 'high in the air the buzzards make their courtship flights, you see lambs outside and the elder is about to start ask if it will be spring .. 'and' this drawing was for the February month of my calendar, rien '.
But for many painters, and buyers too, the delicate white of a blossoming fruit tree, set against a blue sky, is the ultimate representation of the feeling of spring. Arnold Gorter and Cornelis Kuijpers were regularly outside in the spring to paint the fruit trees in the short time they were in bloom. Anton Koster made it his specialty to capture the color splendor of the bulb fields around Heemstede from the end of March to the beginning of May. In the midst of the spheres he would then sit on his folding chair and make his studies on cloths, which he attached to the lid of the painting box with thumbtacks. Hot off the press!
After the winter months, not only does nature become more active again, we humans also get an often irrepressible need to be extra active. Vacuum cleaner, mop and mop are brought out and the big cleaning starts. Not like we did in the time of Wasdag van Blommers, for example. The laundry no longer goes on the bleach, is no longer scrubbed on a washboard, rinsed by hand in four laundry tubs and spread on the bleach for a "natural bleach" due to ozone from the air, oxygen from the grass and damp laundry.
Long live the washing machine and dryer ... or maybe back to the environmentally friendly bleaching field? Not only do you see more animals in the spring, but also more happy people! The days get longer, the sun appears longer and longer and the proverbial spring fever announces itself. Our body produces more serotonin and dopamine and our feeling of happiness increases by the day. A cheerful traditional dance in the first spring sun, a spontaneous embrace at the Volendam fair, spring chores of cheerful children in the blossom orchard and in the yard, colorful flowers in vases everywhere. Time to put the flowers out again!