Spring Storm

I missed the Ice Storm of 1998, as I was living in Toronto at the time. I heard stories of hardship the storm was causing in this area, but I also heard stories of community as people shared their homes with those without a heat source, as well as food, water and generators. And they also got together with neighbours simply for companionship on the long, dark, winter nights.

We had a much smaller scale spring ice storm recently - complete with power outage - as hours and hours (as opposed to days and days in '98) of icy rain fell and stuck to every surface. Trees take a big hit as Mother Nature does her thorough pruning this way. It was a pretty, ice-covered world, everything turned to fragile and potentially dangerous crystal.

Fragile like life itself can be, but just like the trees, we too are mightily resilient. My mother was at emerg the day of the storm, with some complications from her treatments. As I waited nervously for an update, my mind drifted back to those darkest days of winter solstice when she was in the hospital. I walked around surveying the damage that the freak storm caused but knew it was just a small setback on our way to spring.  Every day has been a step forward, with healing and renewal, new life and returning joy.