There is a moment, almost radical in pulse, when life bursts from its winter slumber. Flowers slowly rise from the warming ground. Buds discreetly crawl from the craggy arms of seemingly lifeless trees. In a heartbeat, they unfurl in an explosion of new color.

In Texas Hill Country, everyone awaits the bluebonnets. Sprinkled amongst the greening grass, they add a vibrant blue tinge to the enlivening ground. The arrival of butterflies and then hummingbirds fill the air with the sound of fluttering wings. It is only the beginning.

It is a time of promise. When I was a teenager, my heart longed for the open road. I dreamt of adventure and the bigness of life. All things were possible. Spring was dreaming time and a time of stirring passions.

But, I am changed. What I was is what made me who I am, but there have been many footfalls between then and now.

I now know, spring is also when the rattlesnakes move from hibernation. Scorpions crawl forth. Teeming fire ants spill from underground mounds. Danger is in the unguarded step.

The art of imagining a life full of springs is in the measure of guarded steps to the full embrace of radical beauty.

Splendor is never without peril.