Winter Makes Us Appreciate Spring

March has not been an easy month for most Americans, so I’m glad it’s almost over and that April is around the corner. I know from our  birds that spring will come, despite the snowfall today.  We'll welcome it with open arms here.  Nelson Algren once said “Chicago is an October sort of city even in spring.” I disagree. Chicago is in the heart of the Midwest, and after a long, hard winter when springtime comes we seize its promise of better days to come. 

Turns out, there are a lot of quotations about spring. Victor Hugo understood the painful inequities of French society that eventually led to its revolution, but still held fast to the hope of spring: “Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.”

American Author Paul Fleischman has also shared his thoughts of spring; the importance of casting out doubt; and the need to hold fast to spring’s promise:  “You can’t see Canada across Lake Erie, but you know it’s there.  It’s the same with spring.  You have to have faith, especially in Cleveland.”

Spring is about hope, rebirth, and opportunity.  Robert Schuller has shared his thoughts of spring with these words: “Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.”

All the men mentioned above have spoken eloquently about the promise of spring, but given the mood of the country it’s a quote by a 17th Century woman author that seems to most connect with me today:

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant:  if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”    ~ Anne Bradstreet