"to everything there is a season"

This picture was taken Feb 27, 2011, on another magical morning but it also could have been today.

Heavy snow weighing down the branches, no wind, everything dusted in white. Quiet. Quite. Then chunks of snow tumbling down, too heavy for graceful branches to bear. Bending.

I enjoyed a leisurely coffee and wondered at the view. Snapped a few photos. Then off to a full day at work.

I wonder how long it will take the first crocus to pop, and whether I should start inspecting to see if the witch hazel's Magic Fire is beginning an appearance. The seasons repeat themselves and still spring seems a distant promise. I will keep my eyes open.

"to everything there is a season"

I've always thought this passage from Ecclesiastes is comforting, so I was surprised when I googled it to see it interpreted as pessimistic.  So much depends on your point of view.

What do people gain from all their labors
    at which they toil under the sun? 
Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever. 
The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises. 
The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course. 
All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again. 
All things are wearisome,
    more than one can say. 
The eye never has enough of seeing,
    nor the ear its fill of hearing. 
 What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 1