In recent days it has started to warm up. The snow has largely disappeared except from the most sheltered areas by recent warm temperatures. The ground is throughly soggy and mud is everywhere. Yet, I am not foolish enough to believe just because the calender says that we are officially in spring, that it really is spring for sure.
We can still very much so get snow fall this late in March and into April. Some of our biggest snow storms of the year occur in late March, as weather closest to 32 degrees produces the most snow. It can still get well below freezing and quite cold at night. Winter doesn’t end the middle of March in Albany.
Yet, we can all take some refreshment in knowing that within a month the world will start to regain the amazing color of spring. Light greens on the trees and the greening of the grass becomes a deep green that will last through out the summer. The warm days in the lower 50s rapidly become warm days in the 70s, where you just want to soak up as much sun.
It may say spring on the calender, but it ain’t really here. Yet, it is still just around the corner.
They say this month comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb. This is the month where the harshest part of winter comes to an end and spring starts to take over. Certainly by the end of the month we may start having some temperate warm days, as average high temperatures start to work their ways over 50 degrees.
The thaw is much needed this year. It has been a long harsh winter. The green that will soon surround us will refresh and inspire us; it will wash away all the salt and muck that has piled up throughout the winter. We need to be able to put away our winter coats and enjoy the great outdoors without being bundled up.
While nobody thinks that things will green up this month, the warmer weather and the melting snow is a sign of what is to come. Things will get muddy, and we will get more snow, but the calender will say spring as we move into nicer warmer weather, finally.
Soon will be when we can go out camping and enjoy long summer evenings under the stars. When a weekend hike won’t involve cold but just the beauty of springtime and summertime. When the summer seems endless and we won’t have to think of shoveling anything related to snow or ice.
This times are near. We just have to work out way through this cold month and it will become nice once again by the end of April..
Today is December 25th, which is known around many households as Christmas. A truly wonderful celebration of Christ’s birth and time for families to come together once again. Many of us have wonderful holiday traditions this year, and enjoy feasts with the family. It truly is a great time.
In this holiday season don’t forget Christ and the natural world that sustains us all. Spend sometime observing the beauty of the simplicity of Christ’s birth in a hay manger in a cow stall. Go out and feel that cold winter air and think how it must have felt that cold winter night some 2009 years ago today. Take in a deep breath, and realize your taking in the same air that Jesus once did centuries earlier.
Happy Thanksgiving! Make the most of it, enjoy your turkey and everything else.
— Andy
Many of your fellow neighboors are struggling to get by this thanksgiving. We are in one of the worst recessions in decades, with many parts of the market failing in ways that have not occurred since the thirties. Many people have lost their jobs and will not be having such a marry thanksgiving this year.
While some people will go in deep humility to the local food banks or be able to enjoy the holiday with family, knowing that one is without work and a victim of the current recessions must be painful. To know that one will likely be searching for a job for quite some time, and any job they get probably will pay less and not fully utilize their skills.
Others will have to work this thanksgiving and will not be home to be with their families. Those people while in many cases essential to our livelihood, won’t be able to enjoy the turkey at home this special day. Make sure when you pass them by not to forget to thank them too for their hard work and all they do for our society.
Eat your turkey. Have a good holiday. Just remember all those who aren’t having such a good one about now.
It seems like as one gets older that the time goes by quicker and quicker. Days and months that once seemed like they could last forever, quickly recede into the past, and the world continues to change in ways that only a few years ago seem unimaginable.
The past summer disappeared in a blink of the eye. While it originally seemed like it would last forever, it is now gone. It’s already started to get colder out. When I was younger, time never seemed to disappear so quickly. The youthful innocence of yesterday has disappeared.
I don’t really know how to react to all these changes in my life. I just take them in one day at a time.
