Winter Solstice Past, Spring is Coming

Signs of Spring

Birds building nests, my pond fish coming up for food after winter, my neighbor's snow drops in bloom, tulips, hyacinths and daffodils pushing through the soil.

Tempertures moderating, early vegetables showing growth, red winged black birds...

The warmth of the sun, clear skies..

All of this happening now on Long Island on January 10th!

From an e-mail from past winter of 2004
Quite a different story this winter.
This was sent out on February 4, 2004

For those of us living here in the Northeast this has been a long winter. We have had our share of cold and snow. Many of us are ready for spring... more than ready! For some of us this winter has been a difficult one in ways that are bigger than the weather. The promise of spring is more than just a season change. We hope for new life and restoration from some difficult days.

The groundhog was of little help. Six more weeks of winter! Or is there? You could say the pessimist sees six more weeks of cold, possibly snow and little sign of spring. I must be an optimist then!

I do have my personal reasons... Emmariah Rose, my first grandchild is due any day. In fact she's already late. We are all waiting for her to make her appearance. Her middle name reminds us of spring.

But let me tell you quickly about a little backyard project I did last year that also tells me spring is close.

I put in solar lights for the gardens; four to be exact. I purposely left them up over the winter. They provided some beauty while the ground was snow covered. Some of you may remember the first snow arrived days before the first day of winter! But as the days grew short, I noticed one of the lights, the one furthest north in the backyard failed to light at night. I thought perhaps they weren't such a good deal after all. I had bought them at a local liquidator store. Then I realized that the sun was not reaching this lone light, thus no night illumination. Until tonight! For as the days have been slowly growing longer since December 22nd, so now the sun reaches this spot in the yard, overcoming the shadows that hid it before today.

Spring is not far off. While there are other places in the country that have a warmer and drier climate than we do, I am sure they are not going to relish the spring like we will this year.

And while we may experience six more weeks of winter, it really is not that long. Enjoy the coming of spring and all the beauty the LORD will display in a short time. For me, its the greatest show on earth!

This evening, January 10, 2007
all the lights were lit brightly!