All the quotes are from Sweet Town (Toni Bambara’s first published story)
The Context: The protagonist is a teenager girl who gets involved with two guys in one spring and one summer. When she saw the note her mother wrote her,
"My dear, mad, perverse young girl, kindly take care and paint the fire escape in your leisure… "
here was her reaction:
" As if bare-armed spring ever let up from its invitation to perpetuate the race. And as if we ever owned a fire escape. 'Zweep,' I yelled, not giving a damn for intelligibility, and decided that if ever I was to run away from home, I'd take her(her mother) with me."
Later in the story, the race is explained.
"and in this spring race, the glands always win and the muses and the brain must step aside to ride in the trunk with the spare tire."
I have difficulties understanding "bare-armed spring ever let up from its invitation to perpetuate the race". What does "bare-armed spring" mean? Does "let up" mean stop? Could you help me decipher it?