It's snowing again, and the high temperature today didn't get out of the teens (Fahrenheit). We were near zero overnight last night. By the calendar, spring is 20 days away, but by the weather and ice and snowpack outside, it's a world away.
This got me thinking about having patience. I had to look up a phrase about patience online (beyond the trite 'patience is a virtue') and found this:
"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity." - Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist
It reminded me that the warm sunshine of spring would not feel as wonderful and satisfying if we felt it all the time — that we would more easily take for granted the spring planting season if that season never truly ended.
It's like electricity and running water. We use them every day, and we certainly are glad to have them available, but their use becomes second nature, and it's not until a storm knocks out the power that you realize how wonderful it is to turn on a light, feel the warmth from the furnace, wash your hands or (!) flush the toilet.
I'm a four-seasons kind of guy. Just as the cold of winter gets really tiresome, springtime returns. Just as the oppressive heat of summer starts getting to me, the cooler weather of fall returns. Sometimes, nature reminds us that absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder.
I found one other quote about patience while searching online (this is a great site for that):
"Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence." - Hal Borland, American author