Wednesday, March 27, 2013

What is Spring... If not Hope???




This sign at the front of our church in Hillsdale really says so very much to "Me." Hope is a faith-based support to enable one to make sense of life's many problems and to endure. It is not a passport which exempts one from the suffering. 

I have been revelling in observing the multitude of sudden new changes here in Rockport this past week. Everywhere... there are signs that, despite the presence of much remaining snow... sudden new changes  seem to fill each hour of each day. All of these signs draw one to conclude that Spring has indeed finally arrived!

The skies are filled with continuous ever-noisy skeins of thousands of northward bound Canada Geese on the way to their summer breeding grounds in the northernmost  reaches of Ontario. That unique "Goose Music" never fails to leave one filled with awe and it arouses the very same fire and excitement which each flock bugles constantly... as they push on to their summer breeding grounds. One feels as much a part of the change... as the geese do themselves. It is so uplifting to watch the cycle of change and feel life being reborn... Renewal! 

Resurrection seems an appropriate celebration to correspond with the coming of Spring. I have always wondered... Could it have been planned thus? Easter and Spring are synonymous symbolically... and perhaps intentionally. Who knows?... and would accurate dates really matter, or discredit the Christian celebration of Christ's rising up? Not for me.

Both celebrations centre fully upon Hope... and Life after death. Spring signals the regeneration of plants... birth of new animals and birds... a returning to longer periods of daily light. Easter as well celebrates a promise of ever-lasting life through Christ's sacrifice for Mankind. Regardless of one's religious persuasion... Spring with its obvious mystery and wonder offers witness to the "possibility" of that promise mentioned. Whether one chooses to "believe"... remains personal choice... based perhaps on simply Faith alone.


I choose to live each day in Faith and Hope... that the mystery which  I have observed, always with awe and wonder throughout my entire life will lead .... (somewhere???) beyond life and the plane of awareness as it exists here on earth. I cannot... after so closely observing and being a part of life here, deny the existence of Creator ... or Creation. I accept... that it merely "is"... and "I"... "am" but a very small part of it.

I wish everyone Happy Easter! May you find Peace... Happiness... Purpose and the same Hope that I have found in my own life and chosen work! Keep the Faith...and

Good Painting ... To ALL!!
Rich Blessings..

.
 A New Moon rising in Rockport last evening... and with it... our Hope for further success and Happiness in our new personal and business lives. We are truly blessed to be Home!


This American Robin... with his uplifting "Cheer-up!" song one only one of vast legions of his kind who are now back and bobbing about our lawn!


Just one undulating skein of migrating Noisy... excited Canadas... thousands of feet up in the air.... themselves... headin' Home!




One large raft of flight-weary Canadas...resting... until they take to the air once more... more than likely not touching down again until they have reached their final destination at James Bay in  the High North. 




 Tight formation... constantly honking...reassuring each other and urging the flock in unison... onward!






These long... undulating masses of birds are Snow Geese headed to Quebec and then North as far as Ungava Bay where the summer. They are called "wavies" by the northern First Peoples, who hunt them and depend upon them for food and their goose down to fill their clothing. When one sees them... they so resemble white sheets on a wash line being waved up and down by the wind.  Native hunters actually wave white sheets in their blinds to decoy the birds to their awaiting guns.


These are but a few of the wonderful changes that I have enjoyed this past week. For those of you who might not be privileged to see these things... I offer them to further understand my own enthusiasm and joy in watching Spring finally arrive!


"Hoppy" Easter!!!

6 comments:

  1. Feeling a bit of spring fever myself, Bruce! We finally climbed into the 40's yesterday!

    ReplyDelete

  2. Hi there Sherry!... Spring fever is certainly a change one can embrace ... willingly... after the many months of cold and greyness!

    Happy Easter to you and yours! Thanks for dropping by!

    Good Painting!
    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good morning Bruce, our geese don't seem in a hurry to leave yet. We've had another cold spell and I don't think they feel like heading further North!

    I'm sure you're right about the connection between Spring and Easter. I don't think the timing is a coincidence. Similarly, Christmas comes at the same time as the Roman festival of Saturnalia.

    Speaking of Christmas...it's snowing again here!

    All the best,
    Keith

    ReplyDelete

  4. Good Morning Keith!... Thank you for "hopping in" for a visit!

    The sight of such mass migration over such a brief moment in the space of one year... draws one up close in awe and wonder to a fresh reality and acceptance that mankind is but a small piece of the wonder which we call Creation!

    As we age... comes wisdom based upon purer based personal
    observations garnered over an entire life time. Things which we took for granted... or accepted as "gospel" truth... give way to a more personal belief system which , if nothing else gives peace and acceptance as an individual.

    Christmas Keith???... too far in the future to even consider... but last week,I did hear on a radio broadcast the actual number of shopping days left... until we become "wisemen" again... "bearing gifts."

    Thank you for your always interesting and uplifting visits and comments Keith!

    Happy Easter to "You"... and yours!

    Good Painting!
    Bruce
    Warmest regards... and no more snow! HA HA!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy Easter to you too laddie! We have had another snow shower here and on Tuesday I had a beautiful drive out into a very snowy region where it was a white wonderland though the roads were completely free of snow! The geese are still with us and will be soon going on their own journey to spend the summer in a fine area. Lovely photo once again Bruce, good to hear all of your news while I have been reading you posts over the week. Take care and keep warm amid the snow. Best wishes from Scotland. I found a very wee daffodil amid the snow, still alive!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good Morning Highland Lass!... Glad to hear that you too have survived winter... as has that "wee daffie"! This uncertain and too lingering part of winter surely becomes cabin fever for most of us!

    We are all anxious... like all the other creatures in Creation to rejoin the emerging new signs of energy of rebirth and renewal.

    The best way for artists to renew... is to paint their way ... through this bluesy part of the year!

    Happy Spring to you and yours Caroline! Thanks for taking the time to visit and for your Easter greeting! Both are greatly appreciated!

    Good Painting!... and "Hoppy" Spring!

    Warmest regards,
    Bruce

    ReplyDelete