On a Snowy Sunday

I took a walk in the neighborhood this morning before the snow began to fall. My gratitude for normal temperatures for this time of year is great after the over two weeks of frigid cold weather we just endured. It is so good to be able to walk outside again. I am also thankful that the weather is easing for those who are suffering in Texas and other parts of the United States and feeling so blessed that I am not dealing with any serious problems in my life or community.

On a Snowy Sunday

like this I am dreaming of springtime and remembering fondly last year’s spring flower snow at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. This year’s spring flower show was cancelled because of the pandemic. But last year, even though we could see the signs that a world-wide pandemic was beginning we had no idea what the coming months would bring.

I went to the flower show with joy in early February and then even took a day-long class at the Arboretum on Feb. 29, 2020. When March began we began to see that normal life would not be so normal for awhile. But even though I knew that pandemics do not disappear overnight, I did not imagine the changes that were just around the corner nor did I imagine the toll the virus would take here and around the world.

But there is hope in the air. The amount of daylight stretches each day. And sun’s rays are at an angle that you can feel the sun’s power again. We have survived the long cold spell and can see the end of February in our sights and even imagine turning a corner into March. At this time of year I always hold out hope for an early spring with mild March weather. It doesn’t often happen but every few years it does! Who knows. Perhaps this is going to be one of those years.

While I am dreaming of spring arriving, I am also dreaming of the day when I’ve had the vaccine and developed some immunity to the virus. While I don’t plan to go wild and begin living as if my life is back to “normal” I do hope to be able to spend time with our grandchildren and children in person instead of online or on the telephone. And I am dreaming of the day when all who want the vaccine can be immunized and of all of us moving forward to deal with other important issues in our country and around the world.

Love for a Song

Love is barter—bits of affection traded for pieces of adoration.

It is desire doled out on the whippoorwill’s summer wanting. It
is our craving for the meadowlark’s ringing song—our longing
for spring’s greening from our sun-starved spirits down to our
bare-toed roots. We seek the winding path and wander until
we find the sweet spots—blackwater cypress swamp, tallgrass
prairie sweep—the place where moonlight glancing off of tide-
slicked stones makes us weep.

We want the wild soul and a shadow-dwelling wood thrush
heaps it on us in self-harmonizing sonata—We revel in wild-
flower bloom—marvel in the migratory sojourns of birds
dodging falling stars. Sink yourself deep in the dizzying dance
of pollen-drunk bees. Find hope in the re-leaved canopies of
the tallest trees. Wind and water—storm and surf—they can
move us to other ends. Therein is the turn on. It’s the honey
sweet seduction. Nature asks only that we notice—a sunrise
here—a sunset there. The surge, that overwhelming inex-
plicable thing in a swallow’s joyous flight or the dawning of
new light that melds heart and head into sensual soul in that
moment of truly seeing—that is love.

   — J. Drew Lanham

Today I dream of spring and I dream of vaccine.

What are you dreaming of on this snowy Sunday?

May you walk in beauty.