Searching for Spring Steve Apps Photo

 

When I was in grade school, we all learned this little ditty: “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.”  And most of the time the ditty proved true.  But guess what, I am writing this on the last day of March and it is snowing.  Snowing hard.  Accumulating on the tree branches and grassy areas, making travel difficult.  A real bummer for those who are patiently waiting for spring.

I am one of those who is waiting. I so much enjoy standing in one of my woodlots at Roshara this time of the year and merely looking, listening, smelling—feeling for the changing of the seasons.

Here is a little something I wrote in my journal:

            Spring is a fickle season in the North.  It’s not sure if it should appear, or perhaps it’s cautious and afraid after being gone for so many months.  It peeks around the corner a bit, some days even comes out into the yard to play.  But then, like a shy child, it retreats into the shadows and winter returns yet one more time.  Spring in the South is more forward, more self-confident.  It shows its face in late February or March and stays—mostly.

Spring is my second most liked month of the seasons in the North.  Autumn comes first.  For me spring is a season of promise, of expectation, of hope.  My dad, always the optimist, often said when I had a bad day, “Tomorrow will be better.”  After a long, cold and snowy winter on the farm, his words “Everything will be better when spring rolls around.”

Spring often came in fits and starts—a warm day or two, then snow and cold, followed by another warm day. When I complained to my dad that spring seemed to never come.  His words, “It always comes.”  And he was right.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Waiting for spring sometimes requires considerable patience.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore. order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They have a large selection of my books.