Question

from first skunk of spring

1. as long as we are able to be out of doors, spring speaks to us of promise, of renewal, of possibility. there are, of course, regional differences in both experience and metaphor. in some places spring happens as slowly as ice melts. in other places you go to bed on one winter night, and by dawn the next day its summer.
2. here at soul mountain, the country home / writers retreat i am lucky enough to own, i do not work the land, but i do live on it. from my desk i look out on peanut pond as it changes color. today the gray cataract of ice has shrunk to only one end of the pond; the rest dilates with reflective depth, a dark portrait of trees and sky. though im still dug in for the solitary connecticut winter, i can sense the approach of spring. soul mountains spring season starts in march. im preparing the house for the arrival of new guests. i look forward to having a house - full of young poets again. i leave the house maybe only once a day now, to check the mailbox up on the road, or occasionally to take my car out of the garage and go buy provisions. the last few days ive heard birds calling from the thicket, and thought, oh, springs coming! and done a little internal dance.
3. i remember several past springs. when i was teaching in northfield, minnesota, i took my irish setter, piper, for several long walks every day. i remember noticing things one spring that id never noticed before, and wondering whether theyd always been there and id just been blind, or whether the details of this particular spring were different. i remember wondering whether anyone would notice if there were ten or a hundred or a thousand little things that were different this spring, or any spring, and realizing that there would be something new to notice every spring, if i paid attention. had maple trees always had two kinds of flowers? why hadnt i ever noticed this before? were sidewalks littered every march with red

in paragraph 4, the author states that she feels a measureless ocean of love in springtime. which detail from the passage best supports this statement?

1. though im still dug in for the solitary connecticut winter, i can sense the approach of spring. (paragraph 2)
2. the last few days ive heard birds calling from the thicket, and thought, oh, springs coming! and done a little internal dance. (paragraph 2)
3. i remember several past springs. when i was teaching in northfield, minnesota, i took my irish setter, piper, for several long walks every day. (paragraph 3)
4. i am not a gardener and i tend to walk through my days in a kind of absent - minded professor obliviousness. (paragraph 6)

Explanation:

The statement about feeling a "measureless ocean of love" in springtime is an expression of positive emotions associated with spring. Option 2 shows the author's joy (doing an internal dance) upon hearing birds calling, a sign of spring's arrival, which best reflects positive feelings towards spring.

Answer:

1. "The last few days I've heard birds calling from the thicket, and thought, 'Oh, spring's coming!' And done a little internal dance." (Paragraph 2)