Eternal Inheritances

April 13, 2014

Hudson Falls, NY

It’s hard to believe that so many days have passed since my last post.

There are no good reasons for my silence, only excuses. 

To those of you reading now, thank you for coming back after all this time.
Looking back at the year before, the same thing happened. 

What IS it about March?

This year, the late snows came in abundance,
and my friends and I could get out our snowshoes at last.

We played in the fresh fluffy snow,

and climbed familiar hills, to show new friends the view

We were invigorated by the brisk air --

and yet -- we were already dreaming of warmer days 

Days that were just around the corner -- or so we thought.

Then came rain,
then ice,
then more snow.
Then sleet.
There were huge piles of dirty snow everywhere you looked, 

and they looked as permanent as mountains.

We began to stay indoors, confined to quarters.

The jaws of Winter seemed to close in.

On the First Day of Spring, I was abed with a miserable cold, as more snow fell thickly outside my window.

(or is this a NyQuil-induced bad dream ?)

That cold, and the cold weather, overstayed their welcome.
Things were not going well in other corners of my life, and I was getting discouraged. 

Call it Cabin Fever, without the cabin.

Time passes … snow melts.
Things get better. And they did.
The rivers open up; birds return, no matter what, 

while the flowers wisely bide their time,
making their anticipated appearance that much more precious.
(Only the skunk-cabbage has dared to bloom, so far.)

I have plenty of snow-filled photos, and winter tales to tell …
but tell me, who could do that 

when the sun is finally shining,
the gloves are safely left at home, 

and the unmistakable signs of spring and renewal
are literally at your feet ?

I am reassured and reminded
that I am the heir of eternal inheritances
which are inalienable,
when I feel the warmth reflected from this sunny bank,
and see the yellow sand and the reddish subsoil,
and hear some dried leaves rustle 

 and the trickling of melting snow in some sluiceway. 

The eternity which I detect in Nature
I predicate of myself also. 

How many springs I have had this same experience!
I am encouraged,
for I recognize this steady persistency
   and recovery of Nature
as a quality of myself.

   HDT Journal, March 23, 1856