开春的第一天

“Ah spring!I absolutely love spring!”Amy thought as she shooed1her two little boys out of the back door and into the yard to play.It was really warm enough to let them out without jackets and the need for hot chocolate waiting when they got tired of the frosty2air of the long winter.

Amy watched the boys start to chase each other around the yard just starting to release all the pent up3energy of a winter spent mostly indoors.With a smile she turned to open the dining room windows,inhaling4the fresh breeze as it swept through the house taking with it the last vestiges of winter gloom.With the happy sounds of little boys laughing in her ears, Amy picked up her duster and dutifully started to dust around the dining room,lifting knick knacks5, plants,and various other items.Dusting the pictures on the walls and not forgetting to dust the trim around the doors,she started with that and would end with cleaning the tile floors.

There was a lot of spring cleaning to do and today was the first really pretty day of the year and Amy wanted to take full advantage.She,like her boys had some energy to work off.So she dusted,wiped and polished,feeling very proud of herself for doing such a thorough job and knowing she would be very happy with the results.

“Mommy!Eric got a dragonfly.Come and look at it!”Glancing around from the bookshelf she had been rearranging,Amy could see out of the back door that her older son did indeed hold something in his hands. As if the huge triumphant6smile on his face wasn’t clue enough.

“春天，我太喜欢春天了!”艾米一边对自己说，一边让她的两个小儿子去后门外的院子里玩耍。天气很温暖，在房间外面，孩子们可以不用穿夹克衫；艾米也不用为他们准备热巧克力来抵抗冬天的严寒。

看着她的孩子在院子里面互相追逐，开始释放因为整个冬天待在室内而压抑许久的能量，艾米笑了，她打开餐厅的窗户，感受着清爽的微风将房间内最后一丝冬天的阴霾吹散。听着孩子们欢快的笑声，艾米拿起抹布开始尽职地擦拭整个餐厅。房间里的小摆设，盆栽和其他的一些物品都要挪开，墙上的画也要擦干净，门周围的装饰品也要擦拭。她开始清洁门上的装饰品，并且打算最后打扫地板。

春季大扫除有许多事情要做，今天是一年中最好的开端，艾米打算好好地利用这一天。和她的孩子们一样，艾米精力充沛，所以她有许多的精力来打扫房间，擦拭家具，擦亮餐具。对于完成这么一项细致的工作，艾米感到自我满足，她也会对自己的工作成果很满意。

“妈妈，艾瑞克抓到了一只蜻蜓，快来看啊!”艾米从她刚刚重新整理的书架中抬起头来环视了一下，从后门望去发现她的大儿子手中拿着什么东西。似乎他脸上那胜利的微笑都不足以说明他的兴奋。

“OK,Mommy sees,be careful and don’t squish7it!”Amy grinned at her littlest,Todd,and shooed him back outside.“Now go and catch one of your own, honey.”

Todd’s eyes got very big for a moment before he whirled and dashed back outside and began in earnest to hunt for a bug of his very own.As she turned back to the waiting bookshelf,Amy could hear Eric offering sound advice on exactly how to catch a dragonfly to his little brother.

For a brief moment,Amy wished she could be as carefree as her children,with nothing more on their minds than catching bugs and enjoying the bright sunshine of spring.Sitting on the floor,with the job of rearranging books still half finished,Amy couldn’t resist just watching her boys for a few moments.

Their hair messed up8from the warm breeze, faces flushed9from running and laughing in the sun. The grass was coming in green now and the first daffodils had popped their bright heads up in her flowerbeds already.She loved daffodils,tulips and crocus too.Always the first flowers to be seen in spring,their bright colors like so many banners announcing the end of winter and the renewal10of life that spring signified to11Amy.

Wandering over to the back door,Amy leaned against the door jamb and looked over the fences to all the trees in the neighborhood and had to smile at the bright green buds popping out12on all the branches. Birds were singing and Mrs.Witters next door was out with a little spade and her gardening gloves puttering around her own flower beds.Her old face lit up with13a smile when she saw Amy and she smiled. Amy gave a small wave back and turned again to watch her boys.

Eric heard it first.The first true sign of spring. That one sound that every kid knows.It is guaranteed to send even the smallest child running.The ice cream truck.Before Amy had even registered the sound,Eric had already started running towards her,his blue eyes wide and excited.“Mommy!Mommy!The ice cream truck is coming!Can we get an ice cream please?”His hand tugged on her jeans with a great deal of urgency. Everyone knows if you don’t act fast the ice cream man would be gone.

“妈妈看见了，小心点，别把它捏死了。”艾米对她的小儿子托德咧嘴笑，然后让他重新回到室外去：“亲爱的，你自己也去抓一只。”

听到这个，托德的眼睛睁得大大的，然后就马上冲到屋外开始认真地去捕捉属于他自己的虫子。艾米重新回到书架边时，听到了艾瑞克在教他弟弟怎样去抓蜻蜓。

有那么一刻，艾米希望她可以和她的孩子一样无忧无虑，不用想任何事情，可以享受抓虫子的乐趣和享受春天灿烂的阳光。艾米坐在地板上一边整理才处理一半的书籍，一边忍不住地看着她的孩子玩耍。

暖风吹乱了孩子们的头发，阳光下的追逐和欢闹使孩子们的脸蛋儿红彤彤的。小草带着绿绿的芽从土里钻出来，花坛中的水仙花已经明艳地开放。艾米喜欢水仙，郁金香和藏红花，因为这些都是春天里最先开花的。正如春天向艾米预示着的一样，这些鲜艳的花犹如众多旗帜宣布着冬天的结束和生命的复苏。

走到后门，艾米靠在门柱边从篱笆望过去，欣喜地发现邻居院子里的树木都冒出了绿色的枝丫，也听到了鸟儿的歌声。邻居维特斯夫人手上戴着园艺手套，拿着一把小铁锹走在她的花坛中，当她看到了艾米之后朝她微笑，艾米向她挥手示意之后再次将目光投向她的孩子们。

艾瑞克是第一个听到这个声音的。这才是春天到来的真正标志，每个孩子都知道这个声音。只要听到这个声音，保证最小的孩子也会开始跑向它。这个声音就是从冰淇淋车发出来的。还没等艾米识别出这个声音，艾瑞克就已经朝她跑过来，充满兴奋的蓝眼睛睁的大大的。“妈妈，妈妈，冰淇淋车来了，我们能买冰淇淋吃吗？”他的手迫不及待地拉着艾米的牛仔裤。所有人都知道如果你不立马行动的话，卖冰淇淋的人可能就离开了。

“Please Mommy!”piped up Todd also.

Amy was wise enough to know that on this day at least she couldn’t hope to win a battle against two pairs of bright blue pleading eyes and such sunny spring smiles.

“Yea,guys,let’s go and catch the ice cream truck. Hurry!”And Amy was off,holding little Todd’s hand as she grabbed her purse and burst out of the front door, she started waving at the truck as excited as any of the neighborhood kids that already lined the street.

The three hurried over to the truck and impatiently waited in line.Eric and Todd were both chattering excitedly about what exactly they were going to get,and each changing their minds at least five times before their turn came.Amy knew exactly what she would get—an ice cream sandwich.It’s what she got every time and she always enjoyed the first one of the season more than any other.

Spring cleaning was long forgotten as Amy,Eric and Todd sat right down in the soft spring grass and enjoyed their first ice cream in the warm sun.Any thoughts of winter were far gone already.The promise of spring had already started to deliver—warm breezes, bright flowers and green grass and the smell of new life in the air.

Grinning at two little ice cream-covered faces, Amy couldn’t suppress the thought,“I love spring.”

“求你了，妈妈!”托德也跟着喊起来。

艾米知道在这一天，面对着两双明亮的带着祈求的蓝眼睛和如此阳光般的笑容，她就别指望可以拒绝他们。

“好的，孩子们，我们去追冰淇淋车吧，快点!”艾米牵起小托德的手，抓起她的钱包就往前门冲。她向冰淇淋车挥手，和所有已经站在街上排队的孩子们一样兴奋。

三个人赶到冰淇淋车，焦躁地排在队伍里。艾瑞克和托德开始兴奋地讨论着要买什么样的冰淇淋，轮到他们之前，兄弟俩至少交换了五次想法。艾米知道自己想买什么样的，那就是冰淇淋三明治。她每次都买这种，她总是最享受这个季节的第一个冰淇淋。

艾米早已经将她的春季大扫除忘到一边去了，艾瑞克和托德坐在柔嫩的春草上，在温暖的阳光中享受他们在春天的第一个冰淇淋。此刻没有人会想到冬天，春天的希望已经开始传播开来。温暖的春风，明艳的鲜花，翠绿的青草以及弥漫在空气中新生命的气息。

看着吃的满脸都是冰淇淋的孩子，艾米咧开嘴笑了，再次克制不住地在心里说：“我爱春天。”

Notes：

1.shoov.发出嘘声赶走 2.frostyadj.霜冻的，严寒的

3.pent up被抑制的，被压抑的 4.inhalev.吸入，吞咽

5.knick knack小摆设，小饰品 6.triumphantadj.胜利的，得意洋洋的

7.squishv.压扁 8.mess up混乱，弄糟

9.flushv.发红 10.renewaln.复苏

11.signify to对……来说，向……预示着 12.pop out突然出现，突出

13.lit up with充满