The Hope of Spring

“Nature chose for a tool, not the earthquake or lightning to rend and split asunder, not the stormy torrent or eroding rain, but the tender snow-flowers noiselessly falling through unnumbered centuries.” ~ John Muir 

Spring brings so much hope. The days are getting longer, the sunshine beats down on things that have been dormant and there is an unseen process that is bringing forth new life. The cold dread of winter that has brought everything to a standstill begins to lose its icy grip and the cycle of life begins afresh. It is amazing that in the dormant season, a time when all seems to have died, life is springing forth.

I was thinking the other day how after the rut for deer, elk and bighorn ends in the late fall, we enter the cold and dreary winter where everything looks dead, where the short days and frigid nights rob the warmth from every living creature. It is a time when there is a lack of abundance for foraging and the energy spent to find sustenance is great. But a process is underway, and in the spring when life can be sustained, the bighorn ewes bring forth their lambs, the elk their calves and deer their fawns. The tender nutrient-rich grass of spring sprouting up through the late season snow is what will give the next generation what is needed to survive and thrive.

Bighorn ewe with its young lamb on Mt Evans Colorado 

 

Life is much like the seasons. There are periods where it thrives and everything seems to go our way, when every aspiration and desire seems to come to fruition. But these times are contrasted by periods that seem bleak and desolate, times when everything is dismal and dreary. A time where nothing goes our way and every hope is dashed. The winter season in life will strike with unrelenting force trying to break and disquiet the spirit.

There is a time when a dream is being born, when a promise is given. And it seems that before it takes flight, a winter season occurs, a dry and barren spell overtakes us and seems to choke the very life out of us. That is why we need to hold on to our dreams and promises to keep them alive. Sometimes it feels like they have died, but they are going through a process waiting to come to fruition.

Elk calf – Kawuneeche Valley – RMNP

 

Though it seems like the winter season will never end, there is a hope of spring. The cycle will start anew. Those things placed in the depth of our souls will begin to grow having endured the harsh, dismal winter season and life returns again.

Moose calf wading in the Colorado River – Kawuneeche Valley – RMNP

 

The Lonesome Road Warrior       

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