Mother Nature has been teasing us here in upstate New York for the last few days. Temperatures have hit 50+ with sunshine and blue skies. All the snow is melted ... and this morning I heard birdsong. It wasn't the kind of birdsong one is likely to hear when spring is in full swing, but even the sound of a few little ones calling to one another was enough to make my heart soar. The only thing that could make my smile even wider would be the sight of the geese sailing across the sky, calling to each other that they are almost home.
Some people might think that giving us this little glimpse of spring so early just to take it away from us again for several more weeks, or even longer, is cruel. Ground Hog or no Ground Hog, I've lived up here long enough to know that while we may have 50 degree weather at the end of February, the worst snow storms we've had have always arrived in the middle of March ("Beware the ides of March" as Mr. Shakespeare told us). So I hold no false illusions, but what I do hold is hope. That's why Mother Nature does this little dance every February. She knows we have been bogged down in cold, grey, uninviting weather since the Christmas glow faded and right about now it feels as if spring will never get here. So, she gives us a sneak peak, just like a movie trailer for a blockbuster to come. Without hope, what is there to look forward to?
Hope makes all things possible. It gives us a reason to get up in the morning. It is the seed of something wonderful that we plant in our hearts. It is the promise that, regardless of how long winter feels, spring always comes.
May you week be filled with the seeds of hope, and maybe a little birdsong thrown in for a touch of joy.
And so it is.
