It used to be, here in The USA, that we had a long and noticeable spring. We had lots of spring showers, of course, and the budding of trees and daffodils and other plants waking from the winter. We saw fawns resting by trees (as Mama deer went foraging). We had several weeks of cool weather, keeping the trees from budding before they should, without the danger of a surprise frost. And the bugs stayed mostly inactive until the end of April.
Now we have a spring season that awakens way too soon. Temperatures soar, and we might have 70°'s for a couple of days, luring out the anxious flowering bush buds, and the tender flower shoots from underground, and then, a few days later comes the threat of a heavy frost. I've had to cover my Viburnum bush for three spring seasons in a row, often more than once, and also protect my flower garden. The Viburnum is going to be too big for me to cover next spring, so I'm not sure what I'll do. Just last year, in mid-April, we had a couple of inches of snow!
This (so-called) spring week I decided to get some serious spring cleaning done, but found out that I had "missed the window." I was so hot and sweaty by the time I got done, it might as well have been the "Dog days" of August. And now, here we are, still in the first week of May, and the daily temps are forecasted to be in the upper 70's to 80's for this week. I must admit that I'm glad we aren't in the major "tornado Ally part of our country (although there was a tornado that touched down in our state a couple of months ago, which devastated a summer community hotspot at a place called Indian Lake. Luckily, it happened so early in the spring that no one was occupying any of the summer cabins, many of which were left in ruins.
In the past couple of weeks, we've had a severe outbreak of tornados in the plain states. There were very few deaths, but neighborhoods were wiped out, houses torn apart, some houses "picked up" and moved several feet off of their foundation. This old world seems to be telling us something, but nobody really knows exactly why these terrible outbreaks of severe weather keep happening. I personally think it's just the natural warming and cooling cycles that have been around since God first made the earth, and I also think that original sin unleashed evil forces with potentially devastating effects that we cannot measure. Humans are out of balance, hurting and killing each other, many people being exploited by human trafficking. We have crooked politicians and other world leaders whose hearts are filled with hatred and anger, as they grab all the power they can get, at the cost of many lives. If you don't think that sinful actions can affect the balance of earthly cycles, then you have no idea of what evil can truly bring about. If there was a sudden shift of focus, with humans turning back to God, I believe we would see positive change. What have we got to lose? I say let's all give it a try! And on that note, here is the prayer for the nine month novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, which thousands of people have signed up for. Cardinal Burke sends out a monthly reflection, and in between, we pray this lovely prayer daily, in our homes, with our families. Please join us if you can!
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