It’s April 15th and this is the view from my office window.  But before you get excited, I am not complaining.  Everyone else seems to be, but not me.  After all, I’ve been here before.  In fact this just isn’t that strange.  It’s just  spring in Wisconsin.  My daughter will celebrate her birthday next week, April 21st.  Thirty-four years ago we awoke to six inches of snow that Easter morning, the latest day for Easter to occur.  We had started that weekend enjoying a beautiful spring Friday morning.  The sun was shining, it was almost 70 degrees and we were working on the lawn when my wife’s water broke and we headed for the hospital.  It was forty-eight hours later, the birth of our daughter the morning before, and we were looking at a field of white and a forty degree drop in the temperature.

Now before you blame my daughter for THIS spring morning, just realize that the changeability of Wisconsin weather is normal.  In fact, it is one of the things I love about this State.  Just about the time you think the seasons have changed, you are reminded that the receding season might just take one more shot.  Summer doesn’t instantly become fall, fall doesn’t morph into winter overnight and winter just might not give into spring just because the calendar says it should.

I like metaphors.  I think spring is like a person waking from a sound sleep on their day off.  That sleeper had a long, hard 12 hours the day before, and had been enjoying a deep dream filled sleep (winter).  If you’ve been there, you know you wake up in stages.  The alarm goes off (March 21st), you don’t jump out of bed.  You hit the snooze alarm and try for a few more minutes of sleep.  The alarm goes off again (April 15th).  What the heck, hit the snooze alarm one more time.  It’s Saturday not Monday.  I think this is what spring feels like.  Just because the calendar sounded the alarm on March 21st, face it, winter might just want a few more days of sleep, even when you thought spring was awake, it dozed off.  Not THIS morning, maybe TOMORROW…..maybe next week.

Spring is a season that teaches us patience.  Good projects take time and summer is a great project.  Spring has reminded us to wait.   This too shall pass.  The sun will come out and winter will realize its time is up.  The snow will melt and the trees will bud.  The grass will soak up all that melting snow and brown will give way to green.  Patience.

Wisconsin is one of the states in the country that has four true seasons.  Each season gives way to the next slowly and with patience required.  It is this process that creates the beauty of this state.  Today is just a reminder that something exciting is in the air and something new is coming.  Snow today, gone tomorrow, well maybe the day after tomorrow…….well maybe next week.   But it’s coming.  Try to remember that as you shovel one more time.