What? What happened to Winter?
I love winter and I love snow. Hold on. I also love Spring and Fall.
El Nino has ruined my weather year. According to the Farmer’s Almanac 2015, we were supposed to be walloped with snow, but the one big snow storm occurred while I was in Las Vegas. Eventually, we had a few dinky snowfalls, which I guess will suffice.
So, now we move toward the Spring with nearly 80 degree temperatures before the Vernal Equinox has occurred.
I am sitting outside at my picnic table with my two dogs, one at my feet where he customarily lies, and the other roaming around the neighbor’s yard. Fortunately, my neighbor doesn’t care too much if Auggie is over there, but we are all out enjoying the unseasonable 70 degrees. The sun is shining and warming my back as I squint at my computer screen while trying to write.
I am not ready for the Winter to be over. My friends think I am nuts. For them, the Winter has been long, cloudy, cold, dreary, and uncomfortable. We had very little snow other than the blizzard that incapacitated the community for one day, so I am not sure why my friends are so anxious for winter to end. We had so many warm days during this winter cycle, but they remember vividly the cold ones.
Here is my view: If you have an early, warm Spring, you can plan on a blistering summer. How is that for optimism? I hate the heat, especially when it’s accompanied by steamy humidity which is typical of South Jersey. I like to be outside, but the heat and humidity ruin the outdoors for me. I don’t like to run my air conditioner because it drowns out the sounds of the birds tweeting, the leaves rustling, the chatter and laughter of the kids across the street playing basketball in their yard or swimming in their pool, and I don’t like the hike in my electric bill.
However, Spring is a beautiful time of year. I love to see the leaves beginning to pop out on the trees, the fat robins bopping around my yard, the hawk flying overhead, the tulips breaking ground in front of my husband’s headstone.
I enjoy watching the breeze gently move the branches of the tall pine trees that line the perimeter of my backyard. No sounds of rustling up there, just gentle swaying, like the interpretative dance of all things natural.
I guess I am ready for Spring, but it’s hard to let the Winter go so soon, and I’m hoping that the temperature doesn’t hit 90 by next weekend. If I have to let Winter go, I want to enjoy a longer Spring and revel in the changes that occur in Nature
Spring reminds me of death and life. All that was dead is becoming new again, and we find joy and hope in that freshness of the green and colored plants that emerge from the cold places. Spring reminds me of the Resurrection of Jesus and like the Spring that brings hope for the weary, the Resurrection bring hope for those who know Jesus personally.