All the produce is harvested and brought into the storehouses. Winter is the time that the trees are barren. Nothing is seen growing. The fields lie fallow. The stark winter together with the short days and long dark nights leads one into a feeling of detachment from the growing cycle.
Spring is the time of the budding, the time of the beginning of the new growth of the produce.
From the midst of the dark, barren winter, when all life seems suspended and no signs of growth are seen, a seed which was planted in the fall and has rotted in the ground begins to sprout. After being lifeless and inert, the seed gives up its being and seemingly decays. It loses its identity as a seed. It gives up its essence and seemingly rots, dying under the cover of the ground. One who has no knowledge of the yearly cycle would think that the seed has rotted and is lost.