This is evident, not only from looking at the calendar and observing Passover this month, but also from each day s gradually rising temperatures. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow described the advent of spring as the great annual miracle of the blossoming of Aaron s rod, repeated on myriads and myriads of branches. It makes no difference that you may have seen fifty or sixty springs. Each one is as new, every process as fresh, and the charm as fascinating as if this were the first spring you had ever witnessed. To be sure, the first day of spring is not necessarily synonymous with the first spring day.
Spring is often more a hope than any visible reality, more an expectation than an appearance.
Still, the sweet singing of birds, the lengthening of the days, and the fragrance of the fresh blossoms caress us and console us after the rigorous months of winter. Despite the discomforts and difficulties engendered by winter, we ought to give thanks for the eternal cycle of the seasons, for nature in all her manifestations is wondrous to behold. The seasons do not always cater to our needs and comforts. Indeed, they often exact great costs and take their toll in life, limb, and property. Soil erosion and floods are part of the legacy of excessive winter rains in the West.