Over the last three weeks, husband Luvvy and I traveled 4,500 miles, from Louisiana to New York, the long way — a wrong turn in Tennessee took us through the hills of Virginia and back across Kentucky before eventually channeling us into Chicago. That type of thing is bound to happen when you're traveling on a whim and a dare, as we were doing.

The vast comparison in U.S. weather patterns became very apparent to me during this road trip. In the South, for example, springtime blossoms were providing some aesthetic competition to thousands of Mardi Gras remnant beads in the New Orleans streets. In the North, on the other hand, Luvvy complains that he nearly lost his manhood to the biting cold in Chicago. (I still love him regardless.)

But no matter where we went, one aspect of the weather was consistent: When spring springs in America, it springs with a zing.

I could sense thousands upon thousands of people stretching and yawning and scratching their armpits. South and north alike, Americans were emerging from their doorways like lambs into the light, stepping out of their winter slumber and into the revitalizing energy of spring.

Literally, at this time of year, there is a "spring in the step" as they blink away the sleep from their eyes, fold their flanny pajamas and welcome back the red-red-robins as they bob-bob-bobble along.

All creatures test new fur, feathers, scales, teeth, claws, skateboards and tennis rackets and head toward the invigorating energy of spring. Primal urges to reproduce kick in, as do prevailing urges to clean the nest. Abundant and fresh fruit appears in supermarkets, and the riotous colors of light and flowers make us heady with happiness.

It got me thinking about springtime goddesses who preside over fertility, new energy and growth: Maia, Diana, Artemis, Persephone and Eostre, to name a few. But in the lead-up to Beltane — a time of unashamed human sexuality and fertility — I especially reflect on the energy of the Roman goddess Flora.

Though she did not have a place in the Olympian Twelve, she was very popular with the Romans for her influence over flowers, sex and reproduction. A bit like Sophia Loren, I suppose, although she has more influence over style, sass and oversized sunglasses.

During pre-Sophia Loren times, citizens celebrated Flora's energy during a six-day festival known as Floralia. They gathered boughs and blossoms to adorn temples, statues and sweethearts' homes. Women celebrated their bodies in their natural states — although perhaps not in Chicago, not without reverse-cycle air-conditioning, at least.

I'll talk more about Beltane in my columns over the next few weeks in the lead-up to the May 1 festival (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least). But in the meantime, one way to begin introducing Flora's happy energy into your life is to plant a bed of flowers.

If you have a garden, dig a hole in the ground of your favorite sacred space, and plant seedlings of your choice. Invoke Flora's energy and bless the new growth with the words:

In this season of joy and birth,

and in the name of the Goddess,

I gift these seedlings to Mother Earth

with blissings and blessings and a big fat YES!

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Anita Ryan-Revel is the author of "The Goddess Guide to Chakra Vitality," aimed at helping you connect with your beautiful, sassy, intuitive, lovable, sacred and authentic self. She has incorporated her journey into hundreds of articles, countless websites and numerous books, many of which can be found at her website, Goddess.com.au © copyright 2007 by Anita Ryan-Revel.