It snowed again and before winter makes a final exit, it might snow again. Temperatures will reach the 50s and then drop into the teens. It will snow and rain and a variety of other forms of precipitation before we can call it spring. While this winter has been a bit harder than other winters, it has not been any longer, despite what our imaginations have led us to believe. There is a purpose to this coldest of seasons; it is certainly not to annoy the selfish humans who esteem themselves higher than other living creatures, who seem to get along pretty well despite the seasonal challenges.
In our region, nature rather depends on winter. Without winter, trees are not prepared for sudden cold that often occurs each spring, even after we think winter is over. That sudden cold can damage trees.
Even when winter does damage trees, that too is a way for nature to create some dead wood to make way for new wood.
Without winter, overwintering insects and reptiles do not have the insulation of heavy snowfalls they need. Insects and reptiles, while annoying to some humans, serve as an important part of the diets of birds and woodland creatures.
At the same time, very frigid winters can kill virus-carrying insects like mosquitoes and ticks. Despite the fact these creatures play an important role in some ecosystems, their disappearance from the planet would be welcome. They have been around for 100 million years, and with 3,500 named species of which only a couple of hundred bother humans, the ecological scar resulting from their extinction would heal quickly. Bring on the artic blasts.
For those of us with a little extra fat, winter helps us to burn calories. Being cold makes the body burn more calories. This is important while we are not burning extra calories working in the yard and garden. There is some truth that chubby people stay warmer than skinny people do, but it is more complicated than just that. We can feel secure knowing the calories we burn from shivering are calories worth shedding.
Rebirth, renewal, regrowth; these are all synonymous with spring which officially begins March 20. A favorite season for many, springtime comes with so many promises. As the pages of the calendar turn, there is no guarantee of warm weather right away.
However, winter will end and the smell of rich loam will fill the air and our lungs. It will fill us, as gardeners, with the hope, once again, of guiding a garden of food and flowers from seed to harvest.
Winter will end, and our daily chores will turn from shoveling snow and spreading de-icer to shoveling earth and spreading compost.
Winter will end and the harsh winds that chapped our hands and lips will quickly fade away. In their place, the gentle breezes carried in a robins wing, will comfort us and reassure us that spring, like all the times before, does not break a promise. She always comes back.
