Stormy morning—the bay is roughed up by the east wind and hurls itself onshore, tossing logs around like pickup sticks. I watch from the bluff, happy to be warm and dry. I leave my burdens on the beach for the outgoing tide to drag away. Still not done with winter, the storm is snowing on us in mid-march. A cold strata above us is churning out snowflakes that melt as they fall on warmer ground. Fog descends and blanks out land across the bay, isolating me in a furious gray flurry. Yet there are unmistakable signs of Spring. Red alder catkins glow against the gray sky and brighten my day, inviting bees to linger.

The Saskatoon tree begins to blush, its buds tinged a creamy pink.

CONTEMPLATIONS

• What storm is brewing in your life?
• What burdens do you wish were made light?
• Can you visualize them diminishing 100 times over?
• Is the Universe playing a game with you?

Now the snow has gained momentum, becoming fat conglomerate flakes that dizzy me with their speed and force. Whirling, twirling, diagonal vectors of white softness. Daffodils have been shouting Spring in vibrant yellows, but clinging snow turns their trumpets white. Despite the gale, gulls are delirious, putting on an air show with their loop-the-loops. They’re impervious to the chill, still swooping and zooming about just for the thrill of it.

CONTEMPLATIONS

• Have you hurried some project unseasonably forward?
• Could you be more resilient?
• Might you view storms as opportunities?
• Even though you’d prefer one thing, could you welcome something else?

Crows are excited by the storm and perch on the tips of long fir branches, bobbing and swaying, cawing loudly at the wind. Deer are not bothered; they fold down onto the earth with no cover from the snow, which melts into their bodies as if it never fell. Though a fawn looks somewhat tired of it all—if not the snow, then surely the absence of lush grass. To me they seem stoic, simply enduring the storm with calm and grace. We aren’t used to March snow in this maritime clime.

Perhaps what we sometimes perceive as adversity is really just variety. How about you?

Go back to Spring here.