Easter Week?

 Last night as Hubby and I struggled to stay warm in our exercise pool at the Research Brookside Health Center, we watched frozen pellets of snow and ice float down outside the huge pool glass windows.  We managed all 45 minutes of the class but came home glad to be back by the home hearth and out of the nasty, freezing weather.

This morning when I went out to warm up the car for the morning dog walk, the walkway was slushy, the hood and roof of the Lincoln were covered in frozen nuggets, and the windows were iced over.  It took 15 minutes to get the car warm enough to roll over to the park.

In the park, I was bundled in my heavy dog walking coat, a fleece headscarf for my forehead over which I layered a fleece bonnet, heavy fleece gloves, and a fleece neck scarf to keep my neck and mouth warm. Still I shivered in the frigid morning air.  We plodded over frozen ground iced over with a powdering of snow.  The wind kept the temperatures at under 30 degrees and the windchill hovered in the teens.

My soul says that since this is the Easter season and we are going pellmell into Holy Week we should see buds on the still barren trees.  The grass should be greening.  The jonquils getting ready to bloom and the tulip trees ready to pop. The pansies should be planted by now and getting ready to color the lawns with their purples and yellow glory. The sun should be shining at least once a week and the sky should be a spectrum of blues with white scudding clouds, not a continuous gun-metal gray. 

My frig should be loaded with ripe, rosy strawberries, succulent pink ham, and colorfully dyed boiled eggs ready to turn into deviled goodness.  My pantry should contain shortcake for the strawberries and pineapple for the ham.  There should be fresh, golden corn on the cob and new potatoes with pearl onions.  Instead, we still eating stew and pot roast and hearty winter food that keeps us stoked for the cold weather. 

Tomorrow we are told we have 100% chance of snow.  Most likely, we will have lots and lots of snow.  The light predictions are five inches -- and they total goes up from there into the double digits. 

Meanwhile dreams of spring float in my head and heart.  I've had enough of snow shovels and heavy coats and fleece scarves.  Easter reminds me of new life.  This should be a time of nature awakening the chirping birds, the boys frolicking in the sunshine on the spongy grass, and the kites soaring through the skies at the park.