It is Baltimore
It is spring
It is temperamental weather
It is warm with cold on its heels
It is cold with a sun chaser
It is confusion, a right fit challenge
The birds remember
The deep root systems remember
Green buds bloom
Colors unfurl
Winter wrapped bodies shed revealing knee caps and collarbones
It is natures rythm
It is in all bodies
It is a new normal for me
It is the way Baltimore is and moves
Straight from the soothsayers on the block North Avenue is fresh and ready
And so are we
I am learning a rich beingness
Valerie’s stoop a classroom
It remembers 126 years this stoop
It beckons newness daily
It provides respite for the weary
It is a portal for those who labor and visit within its walls
It is also shaking off the winter
It anticipates possibility
It lets us gaze down on the Ave and across to the distant harbor
Valerie’s favorite view
Water
It inspires us to welcome change
Cuz it must come

—

As we welcome this New season. We give thanks for what was. We give gratitude for all the seedlings we’ve nurtured over the past few months. Greetings to all who are continuing the journey with us. Greetings to all who are just getting onboard. We look forward to your participation in this labor of Love that is the stewardship of Valerie J. Maynard’s Legacy. Laboring in love is liberatory exercise.

In the Spirit of Spring,

Antonio Lyons, Executive Director
The Valerie J. Maynard Foundation