2012-Back home for a week after a month in Florida. Following the weather here while I was away, its been very mild so far-the occasional single digit night or two and then back into the daytime forties a couple of days later. There’s been no snowfall to speak of though a couple of inches are forecast for tonight. Early as it is, I was surprised yesterday coming into a dark room to see the sky was still illuminated in the west at 5:30 pm. The hardest adjustment coming north I find is not to the temperature but to the shorter day. It’s very discombobulating.
2013-Down in New Jersey for a month, I went for a walk right away. Not far along, I saw a robin poking around in a lawn looking for worms. A little farther on, I saw a patch of pansies blooming in someone’s yard. And then, most astonishing, I saw what looked like a tree in bloom. I went closer thinking it must be some kind of witch hazel- some pink variety I didn’t know- but it was some kind of cherry blooming unseasonably ahead of time. A lot has been written already about the biological consequences of this sort of thing such as weakening of the plant, damage to later fruiting, and varieties moving north and competing with locals there. I have always felt I just hated winter and any signs of spring always flooded me with pure joy. But now, in January? I feel nothing but concern. I understand, viscerally, really understand for the first time, the spiritual axiom about duality, that life can’t exist without death. How can there be a spring thaw without a winter freeze? What will be left to feel in March and April?
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