The three months of Spring are March, April and May. In spring the days grow warmer, longer, and the flowers bloom. Many animals that have hibernated come out and dormant plants begin to grow again. The grass greens and the leaves bud and burst out in soft yellow green and fresh rich color after the dormant winter. Animals have babies, birds hatch out of their eggs and baby birds learn to sing with their parents, all rejoicing in this glorious time of year. Spring is the season of refreshing, rebirth, and rejuvenation. A lovely quote says: “Spring adds new life and new beauty to all that is.”
I know spring comes at different times in different parts of America and at various times around the world. But here in Tennessee, spring begins in March, with the days beginning to warm into the sixties and even seventies, along with occasional cold spurts. In March, East Tennessee still might have an occasional reminder of winter—a week of icy days or an unexpected snow. By April and May the cold spells begin to diminish and don’t last long. The old Timers gave these Appalachian cold spells specific names, mostly coinciding with trees, shrubs, and flowers in bloom at the time: (1) Redbud Winter in early April; (2) Dogwood Winter in late April, (3) Locust Winter in early May; (4) Blackberry Winter in mid-May; and (5) Britches Winter in late May.
Many cultures celebrate the return of spring—often with events and festivals or with gatherings at parks or outdoor settings. Daffodils, the March birth flower, begin to pop out all over the East Tennessee valleys and yards as spring arrives. 
Daffodil shows and events celebrate spring coming to the area and the daffodils planted along much of the Pellissippi Parkway in Knoxville begin to bloom out. Maria de la Luz Compere spearheaded the planting of at least 1.7 million daffodil bulbs along the Pellissippi Parkway, leaving everyone a beautiful legacy to enjoy. Wordsworth wrote: “if one daffodil is worth a thousand pleasures, then one is too few.” This could well be the motto of many around Knoxville, where I live, because the yards, gardens, and roadsides are thick with daffodils of all colors and types as March comes to our area of the world. 
Daffodils are not the only flowers to bloom in March, even if the most prolific. Other early flowers begin to pop out in the yards and beds, like snowdrops, crocus, and then the blooming shrubs and trees—like yellow forsythia, white flowering pear trees, and the gorgeous magenta pink tulip trees with their cup-shaped blossoms.
In April more flowers begin to appear … and in Knoxville this is the month when the Dogwood Arts Festival begins. This annual festival has been going on in Knoxville since the 1950s when several Knoxville communities, with a lot of dogwood and redbud trees, created “Dogwood Trails” to showcase their neighborhoods. Driving along the blazed trails, you could enjoy all the trees, daffodils, tulips, and other blooming flowers and shrubs. Over time, getting into the spirit of the event, people all over Knoxville began to plant even more dogwoods, redbuds, and blooming trees. 
In 1970, the Dogwood Arts Festival started, and the entire month of April is now spotted with art-related and cultural events. One of the original dogwood trails winds through my old South Knoxville neighborhood where I grew up and several others are located close to the West Knoxville neighborhood where I live now—especially the Sequoyah Hills trail that opened in 1955. One of my other favorite April flowering trees on this trail, in addition to the dogwoods, are the Kwanzan cherry trees with their pink, fluffy, double blooms.
I think April is the richest time for flowers. So many varieties begin to pop out in this month. Every day when I take my walks around the neighborhood I see more shrubs, trees, and flowers in bloom and I love watching the trees grow greener and more lush every day. Tulips, creeping phlox, iris, candytuft, and even some early pansies begin showing off in April and, in the Smoky Mountains and rural woods and fields, the wildflowers begin to appear, bringing tourists flocking to our mountains with their cameras, eager to see the trillium, wild violets, bloodroot, lady’s slippers, and other beauties.
The month of May brings even more spring flowers and more spring events. I remember May Day celebrations at school when I was a girl, with the May pole and various outdoor contests and events. To me the end of April and early May are always “Azalea Time, ” too, and the azaleas have been glorious this year. No freezes came in Knoxville to nip their early buds and I don’t think I have ever seen the azalea more beautiful—and in so many different colors … pinks, white, reds, salmon, lilac, and magenta. 
More outdoor yard work begins in May, too, as many people around East Tennessee start putting in their gardens and planting more flowers to enjoy, feeling safe, at last, from the chance of freezes and more cold snaps.
I worry that we’ve become too much a sedentary world … not getting out to see the beauty of springtime and nature, no longer walking the trails in local parks, or even around the neighborhoods where we live to see all the flowers, to stop and study them, sniff their perfume, enjoy their beauty. Before May is over—and spring is past—get out to enjoy the beauty of this time of year. There is a rich sense of hope that touches you in the spring, a sense that more is possible. 
L.M. Montgomery wrote: “Nothing seems impossible in spring.” And whenever we see flowers coming back after a harsh cold winter it breeds hope in us, too. If you’ll let it, spring will make your heart sing with new hope and vision. I love Robert Orben’s words: “Spring is God’s way of saying, One more time!” … Blessings to you.
See you in June…
Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act
My husband J.L. and I have a daily devotional guide publishing this month called A JOURNEY OF WORDS. You might ask what exactly is a day-to-day devotional and why does anyone need one?
We can rarely grow in knowledge in any subject area without study. A strong knowledgeable faith doesn’t simply fall on us or happen without effort. It comes by giving disciplined, committed time and study to increase in wisdom, understanding, and expertise—just like growing in knowledge in any other subject area. When you spend quality time with God you’ll not only gain more spiritual wisdom and understanding, you’ll grow into a closer, deeper place of faith. Studying to grow in God always has big rewards and blessings. Even the best of church services only offers a small window of time once a week for spiritual growth. And just as one meal a week won’t sustain us physically, one spiritual meal a week won’t either. Spending time with God every day is a needed discipline, good to cultivate, that helps you learn to lean to God to direct your life and path versus learning to your own understanding and the world’s voice and persuasion {Prov 3:5-6]. Joyce Meyer wrote: “If you make time with God your first priority, everything else will fall into place.”
In a spiritual sense, the word “devotion” in itself refers to the deep love and commitment we give to God in our lives, in time, study, and prayers. If you’re devoted to someone you don’t simply care about them in a part-time, lackadaisical way, you care about them in a full-time, loving, committed way. As an extra plus, when you’re fully committed and devoted to God, He in return is totally devoted to you. Charles Stanley wrote: “God takes full responsibility for the life wholly devoted to Him.” It’s comforting to realize devotion to God is always lovingly returned. That isn’t true of many things and people we give our love and commitment to.
A sweet quote by Elizabeth George says: “The more time you spend with God, the more you will resemble Him.” We do become more and more like those we associate with, for the good or for the bad. “The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” [Epictetus] We can be assured that spending quality time with God will always call forth our best.
APRIL 1 – The Word for the Day is “Shower” 
Readers often ask me where I get the ideas for my books. In looking back at over twenty published novels now I think my main answer would be that “places inspire my stories.” It is often while traveling around East Tennessee, hiking in the Smokies, or visiting the beach in South Carolina when ideas for books slip into my heart and mind. Suddenly in those moments I can see book characters walking around in my thoughts, the concept of a new story drifting to life.
Perhaps this ongoing request fired the idea for the eight children, in EIGHT AT THE LAKE, being raised by Ford McDaniel. Ford is a local veterinarian in Dandridge and part-owner with his father of Sycamore Lake Resort. Quite frankly, Ford has many days himself, when he wonders how in the world he ended up with eight kids to raise. My other major character in this book, Samantha King, grew up in Dandridge at a lovely old Bed & Breakfast belonging to her Aunt Dixie. She and Ford McDaniel have nothing in common. Samantha is a well-known storm chaser and meteorologist with a national weather channel in Atlanta. She travels constantly across the U.S. covering storms, her world an exciting one compared to Ford’s life in a small, quiet town in rural Tennessee. The only reason Samantha is in Dandridge at all is to recover from an accident, and she is already champing at the bit to get back to work as the story begins.
You’ll find a synopsis of the book on the front page of my website at: 
Old maps call the small island at Edisto’s north end, Botany Bay Island, and it took only a small jump of my imagination to imagine a lighthouse and inn sitting there. The entire island had been separated from the mainland of Edisto in Hurricane Gracie and now could only be accessed by boat—a perfect spot for my story idea of four sisters growing up at a lighthouse. Since the name Botany Bay is now so associated with the Botany Bay Wildlife Preserve, I decided to call the island Watch Island in my book, using one of its old names from the past, and I decided to name my fictitious lighthouse after the Deveaux Bank bird sanctuary nearby and after the equally fictitious Deveaux family, who had been keepers at the lighthouse since its earliest days. Not living as close to Edisto as I do to the Smoky Mountains, I gathered more research online, bought history books about the Lowcountry and Edisto, and made extra visits to South Carolina to work on developing the concept for the four books that will be in this new series.
I hope you’ll enjoy taking a trip to the South Carolina coast in the first book in the Lighthouse Sisters series LIGHT THE WAY and also in visiting the mountains and Dandridge in EIGHT AT THE LAKE. “Where are you taking me next year?” one of my readers asked recently. The answer is to Cherokee, North Carolina, in a rich new Mountain Home story titled SEEKING AYITA – and also back to the beach again for the second of the Lighthouse Sisters books titled LIGHTEN MY HEART.
We often think of February as “the month of love” because Valentine’s Day always falls in the middle of the month on the 14th. People swap cards, candy, flowers, and gifts—and the stores are filled with Valentine displays. But where did these traditions come from?
Most sources suggest that Valentine’s Day originated as a feast day to honor Saint Valentine of Rome, a priest and early Christian martyr. Pope Gelasius first originated the Feast of Saint Valentine to remember the date of the priest’s death and to honor the good works and miracles performed in his life. On a romantic note, Valentine secretly married young couples when the emperor in his lifetime prohibited young marriage, believing unmarried soldiers fought better. Another legend says Saint Valentine wrote the first valentine greeting to the daughter of his jailor before his execution, signed “Your Valentine.”
Europeans, and especially the British, began to pick up on the concept of Valentine’s Day sending love notes and soon, also, candies to their sweethearts, probably as early as the 1400s-1500s. However, the day didn’t become popularly celebrated until the 17th century. By the 1900s, ready-made cards began to replace love notes and letters with new advances in printing and mailing. Cupid became associated with Valentine’s Day on early holiday cards. The Roman God Cupid, or Eros in Greek mythology—the God of Love—supposedly played mischief among humans by shooting his golden arrows to incite love in his victims. Many early Valentine’s cards showed the child caricature version of Cupid shooting out his love arrows, like on this old Victorian Valentine card.
In America, we started exchanging Valentine cards in the early 1700s and 1800s, and today approximately 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent or given out every year. The stores in America are already full of Valentine cards and gift displays. And in the schools, children swap Valentine’s Day cards and often create homemade cards in the classroom. In addition to all the general cards for the Valentine holiday, there are a huge assortment of individualized cards geared to “my wife,” “my husband,” “my sweetheart,” “my friend,” “my son,” “my daughter,” and more. Cards are available for nearly everyone on a person’s family and friends list. I even saw a card “from your dog,” and some cards even play love songs.
The pharmacist then shifted his focus from medicinal lozenges to candy, founding what would become the New England Confectionery Company or Necco. From this beginning messages on hearts evolved and the new colorful “conversation hearts” became a great success from the 1900s to today, with Necco becoming the leading manufacturer of the hearts. Today some hearts even say “text me.”
Multiple studies have looked at what attracts couples to each other, causing them to have a romantic or love attachment. Much of the “biology of love” can be explained by chemistry. That romantic attraction or “zing” arises from hormones, stemming from the brain, not from the heart as we often believe. These hormones kick up lust, attraction, and a desire for attachment—that feeling of “falling in love”—which can hit you hard with an assortment of hormones rushing into play.
Like the old saying “birds of a feather flock together,” and research has shown that couples are more likely to pair up with others who share similar looks, attitudes, interests, beliefs, and values. People also tend to be most attracted and comfortable with others similar to themselves, somewhat disputing the “opposites attract” theory. The entire psychological subject of how attractions form is fascinating to read about. Basically, though, we all seek to be liked and loved.
Once a relationship forms, it tends to have certain common elements: aspects of passionate and emotional love, intimacy and liking, the enjoyment for each other’s company, and affectionate companionate love, along with trust, understanding, and caring. An interesting phenomenon occurs as couples spend extensive time together. Atoms interchange between them and the atoms recognize, and are drawn to each other again, when the loved partner comes into proximity. Love is truly a science and a mystery and like the old song ‘a many splendored thing.’
Many of us hold special memories about Christmas in our homes and the traditions we cherish … but I also hold many special memories of traditions and events held around my hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. Every fall, my mood begins to swing toward thoughts of Christmas when J.L. and I visit fall festivals and Christmas-themed shows where we begin to see Christmas decorations, handmade ornaments, gift ideas … and run into Santa!!! I usually buy my Christmas cards in the fall and do my holiday shopping then, too, but my real mood swing toward Christmas doesn’t begin until after Thanksgiving is over.
In the week after the Fantasy of Trees, downtown lights begin to appear around town, the big Christmas tree is lit in Krutch Park, and the annual Santa Claus Parade is held downtown, usually on the first Friday evening in December. Today, many elaborate parades are held all over America and televised, but when I was a girl this parade was looked forward to with great excitement and anticipation every year. Our family always sat to watch the parade on the high wall behind the post office building where my dad worked. It was such a thrill to hear and see the bands coming down the street, to see the decorated floats, and to wave at Santa Claus at the end of the parade. When my brother was in high school, he marched in his high school band in the Christmas parade and later strutted down the street ahead of his band as the school’s drum major. I, too, got my taste of being in the parade, marching in a sequined outfit with Claudette’s majorettes one year.
The Christmas theme and colors of the lights change every year, as do the holiday shows, always making visiting Dollywood a beloved holiday tradition. The annual event is called “Smoky Mountain Christmas.” The holiday shows, carolers, Christmas parade, and other performances are always a delight and if you stay late in the evening, there are colorful fireworks, too. Dollywood is a joy year-round but at Christmas it is especially beautiful.
Special favorites of ours have always been the Living Christmas tree choral show performed at several local churches around town and the holiday concerts we can catch at area churches. We especially enjoy Christmas at West Park on Middlebrook and the Christmas Carol Show at the Catholic cathedral on Northshore Drive. Always on our list, too is the Nativity Pageant, a free drama presenting the story of Jesus birth in story and song put on at the Knoxville Coliseum. This beautiful event is now in its 53rd year and brings the Christmas story to life with glorious music, realistically portrayed Biblical characters, even donkeys and sheep, and closing with all standing to sing the Hallelujah Chorus at the end.
Another favorite part of the holidays is visiting the West Town Mall and its large department stores to see the beautifully decorated trees and holiday decorations throughout the mall. In times past, the mall used to be much more lavishly decorated than today but it is still fun to wander through the large indoor mall and stores to see all the lights and tree decorations. Often the florists around town decorate for visitors, too, and there used to be several we especially loved to visit. When I was a girl, the downtown Rich’s department store extravagantly decorated inside and outside, and inside its tunnel leading under the street to the parking garage. The store also held a free choral concert outside which my family always attended, too.
Lin Stepp 