A Taste of Spring
January is a long month. It’s cold. The excitement of Christmas and New Years is over. It’s cold. It’s time to recover from having company. It’s cold. No more vacation days from work for the holidays. Did I mention that it’s cold?
At least, normally it’s cold.
This past week has brought an uncommon warm front. Nebraska (and a lot of the Midwest) is known for weather that can go from one extreme to another. I left work without my coat three times this week. I wore a skirt on Friday. I wore flats instead of boots. It felt like spring. It felt like March or April instead of January.
And yet, here we are preparing for a blizzard. We ask the important questions: do we have toilet paper to last a few days? (I mean, we can scrounge around the deep freezer and find food, but when the toilet paper is gone we’re in trouble.)
The first week of February is supposed to give us ten (ish) inches of snow.
The snow from earlier this month just melted. There are patches of green in our backyard. Green patches soon to be covered in snow.
When the dead of winter is a blanket of white over the land and the days are short, it’s easy to forget the joy of spring. Sometimes it feels like there will be no end to the cold—like we will forever trudge through the drifts, slip on the ice, and lean into the biting wind.
But this past week was a glimpse of spring. There is an end to the winter. It may not be this week. Or this month. But it will come to an end. Spring will come in its time and stay.
The glimpse of something that is coming can be a powerful thing. February is a short month. It will be cold. It will be fast. And spring will be here before we know it.
