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HISTORIAN’S CORNER
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PHELPS HISTORY
HALF WAY TO SUMMER
By (By Fred Gifford)
As March slips into April, we began to move quietly from the colds of winter into the birth of a new SPRING. The sun, which brings us the warmth and joys of summer, does not move in it's path, but the earth, like a seasonal traveler, tilts on it's axis to face it so that it's northern hemisphere again feels its brightness and warmth.
Winter does not depart happily, for it has become accustomed to its stay and has had the time over several months to make its presence felt. There are still snowdrifts on the ground and we will still have a few days when the cold from the north will yet prevail. We know that we will have to wait patiently for it to leave, but we know its days are waning.
Now the sun faces our equator giving us the promise that this change to warmth, will indeed come to pass. The days grow longer; the sun is up earlier and sets later. We do not have to get up in the dark and travel to our job knowing that we will soon have to travel home in that same darkness. It is a time of renewal, a time of looking forward, a time of new beginnings. We can see the changes in our flowerbeds where the plantings of sometime past are reaching for the sunlight. We can see it in the flocks of geese headed north again as they wend their way across our skies. And we can listen to the sound they make as they communicate, their wonder in what they do and where they are going. What tells them the time is right? What tells them where they should fly? What tells them to have faith in what they do? It is a mystery, but then, we all believe in mysteries. Trees, which have been bare since the fall, show renewed strength and as the springtime slowly advances we can look forward to their re-birth. If there were ever a sign that life does not end in dying, surely we can see it as all around us things rise to new life. As winter grips us in the fall, things around us seem to lose their life, but with the warmth and freshness of a new spring, life and hope bounce into action again.
Maybe, this is as it should be! We of the Northern Hemisphere are blessed with four special seasons and to each there is a special feeling. I would often like to travel to a warmer clime during the worse of winter, but indeed I would miss the changes. Each brings a special feeling; each brings its own blessings.
Winter has its beauties! The wonder of each snowflake; the freshness of the air that we breathe; the good feeling to cuddle up to a warm fire. It's a time that requires that we grow closer to one another, if not for warmth at least for the feeling of belonging. The whiteness of snow covers all the imperfections of our bare landscape and we learn anew the feeling of HOME and its importance in our lives.
Spring, arrives bringing winds filled with promise, a time of freshness, a time when the colors we had forgotten return to thrill our senses. It is a time for loving life and a time of hope. We have not yet begun to enjoy the joys of summer but we know that the season is on the way. It is a time of growing, a time to replant, time to begin anew, a time of looking forward to the days, which lie ahead. The rivers and streams run full and the birds return from their winter journeys, even as fish jump in our waterways reaching for the meals of a new season.
Summer, yet in the wings, is the promise of warmth, of hiking, swimming and just living. It's a time, when free, to sit in the shade, feel the warm winds and seek shelter from the sudden changes of weather. It is a time of vacations, of being outdoors, a time to savor the joys that surround us in these warm months. It is a time for gathering family together, a time to visit those who are apart, and a time to rest in the shade of a sheltering tree whose branches are filled again with green leaves.
Too early, fall arrives. We greet its arrival with mixed feelings. We enjoy the lovely colors that fill our trees, even as we do not look forward to their falling for another season. We enjoy the return to a more normal pace, less active then our summer days, but somehow welcome. It is a time of gathering in, a time when the fruits of summer are stored for the coming of the northern winds of winter again.
And so, the seasons roll around and we (who are open minded) learn to welcome each in it's own time.
So in late March and early April, when the winter of one year lengthens into a new spring, we are especially thankful. We daily welcome the increased sunlight and the rising temperatures, as we shed our winter shells. With spring will come new challenges, new loves, new hopes and new beginnings? The sap that flows into the trees again is the same sap that we feel in our bodies. For with spring there is always the possibility of new wonders in the lives we have yet to live!
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