Slowly the Wheel Turns

Spring is slow in returning to the Great Lakes State this year. Today is April 5 and it snowed this morning. At the same time, the rivers are rising and are cresting just above flood stage as I write this post. Small snow piles still dot the edges of driveways and big, dirty masses line the edge of parking lots.

I'm glad for the flood this year. For a while, it looked like this spring rite of passage would pass us by this time. The rivers melted slowly and the ice did not break in spectacular fashion as it often does, bashing into trees as it makes its noisy way downstream. But spring rains and melting snows finally did their job and rising waters will wash the riverbanks clean, ready for new growth as the sun returns to the land.

I can't help but think we need the cleansing power of nature, such as the floods in spring, to help us wash away our doubts and insecurities, pain and grief that builds up within us. Words sting, people pass away or leave our lives like ships passing through the night. But Nature heals, brings new growth, fresh possibilities and never-ending promise for a new day.

Tomorrow, I will watch the swollen rivers flow and feel the spring gifts of the Spirit-that-moves-in-all-things. Maybe I'll watch a flower shoot slowly poking its way through the soil or the last maple sap of the year dripping from a tree. And I will take a deep breath, feel the breeze in my hair and be thankful for a new day with new possibilities.

See you in the Woods,

Skybranch /|\