April Is the Cruelest Month

...and here is why...



Just two short days ago, my 1 GB memory card could barely keep up with all the images of the beautiful spring flowers I was putting on it.

This ugliness we awoke to this morning was predicted, so I was like a mad woman going around the yard, snapping pics of anything and everything that I thought would be devastated by the 19° and snow that was to come.

I got down on my hands and knees and buried my nose in the hyacinths that were just beginning to open. I went over the gardens with a fine-toothed comb and took notice of the curly fern fronds just beginning to poke through and all the shades of new green that even a Crayola box of 64 couldn't match. The Cleveland Pear trees (Pyrus calleryana 'Cleveland Select') were sporting tiny bouquets of buds that looked much like roses.

The tulips, daffodils, and hyacinth flower buds might be able to shake off the few days of cold we're predicted to have, but those in full-open flower are done for. Many spring flowers and even some foliage are ephemeral, so you'd better appreciate them while they're here. When you go from 82° one day to 28° the next, it's just a mean, cruel trick. Another case of life's not fair.

But God teaches us something in all things, and this reminds me of how our human lives are, too. How many times have we heard about a vibrant young person being taken in the prime of their life? And those we love that have lived a full life, we sometimes take for granted that they will always be here.

The snow will come, whether it's late in the spring or right on time in winter, and we'd better remember it and make the most of our time with not only the beautiful creations in our gardens but the people we journey through life with.