The Longest Season

It was a long winter and it's been an even longer spring. Winter was mild compared to what my friends and family back east endured. I don't remember much snow fall in my town and it seems we had a lot of 50° days.

Spring is a different story. The picture is of an apple tree next to our driveway, and as of yesterday, that's pretty much what most trees in this area look like. Fairly leafless. That would mainly be due to the freezing temperatures every night and the cold days. Today it inched just above sixty for the first time in weeks but regardless, the storm clouds are hanging overhead, ready to unleash the rain at any given moment. For a person who loves spring and the 70° days, budding trees, flowers pushing through the ground and lying on the grass looking up at the sky, the lack of all these things has made me somewhat anxious. Anxious, because I'm ready for this season to be over.

As I type, the wind is picking up and blowing through the open windows of my office, rustling the papers on my desk. In the reflection of my computer screen, I can see the trees bending and swaying as the storm moves in. When I look out the window, my gaze falls upon the island in the middle of our lawn. Right now, it's still mostly dirt and a few lifeless looking plants and two little rogue flowers that survived winter and have determinedly pushed their way through the ground.

If I may make an observations, it's that there is one thing nature can teach us and that is to weather the storm no matter what the days bring because the season will eventually change. Persistence brings strength and don't be fooled by appearance because sometimes, the strongest appear to be the weakest. Those little flowers look awfully delicate to me, but they have survived frost, snow, hail, pounding rain and little warmth in the past few weeks. That's determination. And determination brings hope.