Mar 15 2008
The coming of spring
Fill us with Your love that all our days we may sing for joy. - Psalm 90:14
For a few days, I have heard the familiar chirp of the robin. However, the first robin of spring is never official until I see it. Yesterday I finally did.
Often people make disparaging remarks about the climate of the Midwestern States. They speak of ice and snow as if those were all there are to life here. But there’s a beauty to autumn - the changing of the light, the particular crispness of the air, the glowing color of maple leaves against a gray sky - that’s more pronounced than in warmer climes.
I spent one spring in Florida and noticed that the season wasn’t as astonishing as it is Michigan or Ohio. When crocuses poke out of the snow, even if it seems too early - perhaps ESPECIALLY if it’s too early - joy alights in the heart. Even if you like winter, there’s still a certain childlike sense of anticipation for those first signs of spring.
Perhaps the best example I’ve ever had occurred when I was taking classes at Wayne State University in Detroit. It was early February, an overcast day in which the only brightness seemed to be the dull white of snowbanks. I was walking past the School of Education when I heard a robin singing. I stopped and looked for it.
I wasn’t the only one. The sidewalk was dotted with people, heading in different directions, and several paused. The robin was on a bare tree, singing its song to attract a mate. Someone commented that it was the first robin; another that spring was coming. We smiled at each other as we went on our way. No matter the forecast, we knew winter was at its end.
