Finally the Rains Have Come

Spring 2011 has not been a spring that has caused Minnesota gardeners to get excited. Day after day, the skies have been grey, no rain, and temperatures in the forties and low fifties. The result? The wisdom of growing things has meant spring stopped dead in its tracks.

Lots of grumpy gardeners this spring. The only good thing is that they have consoled themselves by meticulously reading the Friend's School Garden sale catalog. When we leave catalogs at public places, they are quickly snatched up. And the energy level at the Fairgrounds this year should achieve record-breaking highs.

Last evening the rains finally came. The "good for the ground" rains as Clem calls them - slow, steady rain absorbed by the thirsty earth. A little warmer temperature and spring just might burst forth.

Waiting is hard - and it teaches us patience. There is the waiting for the birth of a baby. Those last weeks when friends say "not yet?" While the woman's aching back begs for relief. There is the waiting for Christmas and all the family stories of children who search for ways to "investigate" what might be waiting for them on the gift-giving day. And there is keeping vigil with a dying person. Those last days or weeks when you hope to say everything you want to say, including what didn't get said over the years of busy lives.

Our waiting here for spring has been compounded by waiting for my newest book to go to press. The process has been like this year's spring. Our hope is that in several more weeks the printing will be complete and we can experience the satisfaction that is like no other. Holding in our hands the concrete evidence of so much thought and work.

Waiting for the rains. . . As hard as waiting can be, we are called in our lives to be flexible people . Gardners' carefully kept records of when particular spring bulbs bloom are guides, not rules that the earth is to adhere.

But it doesn't mean we periodically aren't peering at the ground, bent over, searching for the promises of spring pushing their way upwards and looking for the sun.