Missing Spring

Looking out to my deck

Its been totally white outside for so long. Inches and inches of snow after snow. It's been gray and cold and windy. A really long, brutal winter.

Suddenly, most of the snow is gone. And its sunny. And blindingly bright for those of us who've been "holed up" for so long. The blue skies are magnetic, drawing you out even though the warmth is deceptive. The brownish green grass and trees, hint at the Spring season, which, if like recent ones, will not be the lingering warm up of my youth, but rather a stumble directly into Summer or a throwback to Winter before a rapid heat up.

Is it wrong to want the more gentle transitions of the seasons of my youth? Is it simply a silly nostalgia for yet another thing long gone? Maybe. Maybe not.

Transitions allow time for adaptation. Whether it's apple trees adapting to increasing warmth and slowly coming into bloom rather than being yanked there because temperatures get too warm too quickly. Transitions called for wardrobes that make sense for a time, then are put away and the next season's wardrobe comes into use. And back in the time of seasonal transitions, things were kept from year to year, as long as they fit, because they were only used for a few weeks here in the Midwest, rather than being needed for extended periods.

Why is adaptation important? Seems to me that without that time, things are more pressured, more stressed. And if that happens, more subject to breaking down because they can't keep up. As true of people as it is of apple trees. People and trees need time to adjust and grow stronger. And people need time to make better decisions. We've seen the result of speeding things up. I'm a firm believer in slowing things down.