One of the most pleasant things about spring is walking around the yard, looking to see what plants survived the winter and are poking their heads up through the thick mulch. There are two really beautiful crabapple trees on our property that have suddenly covered themselves with brilliant pink blossoms. I have walked by those trees several times this week, hoping to have a sunny day to take a photo of them. Unfortunately, the skies have been gray and cloudy all week.  

T.S. Eliot declared that "April is the cruelest month," because the rain which brought lilacs back to life also brought to life memories of better times, which led to feelings of despair. 

In Kentucky, warm breezes blowing through bring with them rain and tornadoes; trees and plants bloom with the first warm days, but shrivel a few days later when the frost moves back in. It seems that everything is trying to wake up and grow, but winter refuses to loosen its grip. Eventually, though, the angle and path of the earth’s orbit will make the advances of spring and then summer inevitable and winter will have to withdraw. And summer, of course, will bring its own pleasures and problems with it.

This is one of the many things we learn in life—to take the good with the bad together, to enjoy the good and not allow the bad to squelch our joy.