Does anyone remember, back in your childhood, the tale of “Chicken Little”, who panicked from what he experienced in his limited little world, and ran to tell everyone that the sky was falling?    Of course, the sky remained right where it was supposed to be. Today, something similar happens regularly; on the evening news, on our phones, on Facebook, in conversations.  The tone of the message from all channels and media, is that the sky is falling again and again.  We hear opinions and projections, often without context, and we panic. However, have you also noticed that spring keeps coming and the sky hasn’t yet fallen?

When I was a kid, at the first sign of spring, I’d be checking to see if there were tadpoles in my little vernal pool, past the orchard and down the lane. March 7th might be a bit early, so probably I’d find only rippling water.  But sometimes, there would be pollywogs!   hat was Victor (Agricultural Zone 5). Spencer is also listed as Zone 5 but here, it is actually closer to being Zone 4.  Still, the stirrings of spring are evident, in the fresh air and in one’s sensing of the atmosphere around.  Spring is on its way north, a few miles at a time.

“Springing forward” is the cry for the weekend just ahead of us.  We move to Daylight Savings Time! To be honest, I do not enjoy losing that Sunday AM hour of sleep; I already have a hard enough task making it to church on time. I can relate to the song from My Fair Lady: “Oh get me to the church….. get me to the church… just get me to the church on time,” as I try to get a cup of tea before we go.  Personally, more light at the end of the day is worth the temporary pain and the possibility of dozing in my pew. Others, though, reasonably prefer light at the beginning of the day, when they are out and about – walking or running.

This annoying-to-some disruption of our culturally- accepted clock-time was first suggested by George Hudson, a New Zealander, in 1916.  Germany and Austria-Hungary began using it immediately.  Canada also adopted it during WWI.  It was accepted in some areas of the United States, but became more popular during the energy crisis of the 1970s.  I appreciate that it gives me more time outside in the garden, but can be confusing. Not all states use DST. It would be a sensible move to decide for the entire nation, for all year --- Standard time or Daylight savings time.  But consider that kind of bill landing in Congress! They can’t agree on whether or not the sun should shine, much less the time of day!

Time is something of a puzzle. We say “time flies!” and I find that to be true more often, as I get older.  But my granddaughters also say that time moves fast for them.   When I was their age, I think perhaps I was in a time warp filled with endless possibilities, sometimes moving at a waltz tempo, and sometimes the faster pace of a polka. Time was adventure!  Well --- except maybe when I had to help cull chickens or retrieve our herd of Guernsey cows from a nearby swamp! Time rather dragged then!   However, with near-hourly advances in technology and our fill-every-day-to-the-brim life-styles, years zip by now at a frightening pace for all ages. Of course, time can drag still;  during a root canal, in a class with a boring prof, the middle of the night when the clock says 2:30,in a hospital bed or nursing home.  How fast or how slow an hour goes depends on our thinking.  Perspective has much to do with the movement of hands on the clock.

People frequently yearn for different eras; times, “back in the day;” times, when we felt that all was well. If we know our history, this sense of well-being was mostly because we were oblivious or uninformed.  People of my generation wish for a return to the 1950s, when “I like Ike!” was the slogan, and “One nation under God” was added to Pledge of Allegiance. It wasn’t that those years were wonderful for all the world; in truth, there was even less justice for all then, than here is now.  It is just that we had no clue that people were starving, were maltreated, were being eliminated with ethnic cleansing. Our ignorance was bliss ---- for us.  Perpetual bliss, however, isn’t our assignment in this life; appreciating and building a better world, is.

There is a down-side to growing knowledge. That, along with the increased speed of our lives, can create an information overload ---- which results in fear.   The world seems to be threatening on all sides; culturally, physically and spiritually.  Of course, there is more than one kind of fear. Some people enjoy the shuddering, tingling fear that comes with watching horror movies and reading Stephen King books; easy come, easy go --- like ghost stories at Halloween or tales around a campfire.  Realistic fear can be good; it protects us from walking down dark alleys in bad sections of town or putting our hand into a fire. But there is deeper fear:   

                Fear of those who are too different,

                Fear of what people will think,

                Fear of what consequences might come along with change,

                Fear of living fully.

I found, in a young adult book, this quotation: “Almost all the evil in the world stems from fear.”*

Perhaps this is why the Bible tell us, so many times; “Do not fear!”  “Be not afraid!” And yet, we ignore angels, and fear plagues us still.  We fear for our children, we fear illness, we fear old age.   It is scary to not know the road ahead ---AND scary to carry the burden of immediate knowledge of world news. We constantly teeter on the edge of wanting to know and of covering our ears and eyes to avoid knowing.  Our fear makes us forget the wonderful and good things around and about us.  It is like the adage: “We can complain that rose bushes have thorns, or we can rejoice that thorn bushes have roses.

Do you regularly listen to those who amplify scary things?  Do you like the shuddery feeling, or does it make hating seem reasonable?  Those who desire power over others, consider fear an advantage. “In times of uncertainty, fear is the unifying force.  Fear binds people together in a way that cannot be achieved by any other means.  Those who would convert people need fear……and fear is something that will drive everyone back to the paths of darkness.”**   Remember the Salem witch trials, the Inquisition, the cycles of immigration fears when the Irish, the Italians, the Germans, the Japanese came to our shores ---- and today’s immigration problems?  There are many people who fear anything out of their own experience; ready to jump on the band wagon of anyone who dislikes what they dislike, and who promises to bring back the comforts and standards of “back then.”  We are being blackmailed with our own fears; fears that will chain us emotionally and spiritually as surely as handcuffs and leg irons would do physically.  From experience, I know that fear makes us lose our perspective; we can no longer afford compassion and our discernment is badly skewed.

I remember, as a small child, being in bed and “hearing noises outside”.  Most children at some time fear monsters beneath the bed or who knows what outside.  My parents would reassure me with “Oh it is just the animals in the barn, moving around.”  I was not reassured!!  I remained afraid.   Our granddaughters, when little, heard us talking about the raccoons stealing cat food and bird seed in the night.  That night, one of them fussed and cried --- and finally said: “I’m afraid that the raccoons will come.”  So, we turned on an outside light, and went to the window.  Sure enough, a raccoon (just one!) had come and was happily chowing down sunflower seeds.  Our granddaughter said: “Oh , he’s really cute!”  Many of our fears --- very real to us --- can be blown away like a mist, if we are brave enough to look at them head-on. We humans have such a short time here on earth. We need to ask ourselves, “do we really want to spend it in fear and trembling?”   

It is time now (slow-dance time at this point in my life) to notice the wonders that come with spring. Connection with growing things nurtures our inner peace.  The greening grass --- first in the swamps and then on our lawns and the subtle aroma, even if the air is chilly, of awakening soil.  Birds are singing more often.  I have already seen a red-winged blackbirds at the feeder, and a friend has blueibrds.  Little points of daffodils have emerged and the snowdrops and crocuses are in bloom.   John Muir*** had a piece of advice for all seasons and all times.  If one substitutes “hills” for “mountains”, it fits where, I live.  “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into the trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like leaves in autumn.”  The natural world has a way of dramatically changing a mood of fear or despair to a reassured, positive one.  And it costs nothing.

Appreciating and enjoying the world around us brings its own blessings. Opening our hearts to all the newness of spring will remind us that our fears come and go, but spring will keep right on coming, every year, about this time.

Carol writes from her home in Spencer. She may be reached at: carol42wilde@htva.net

*Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

**Dancing With Demons by Peter Tremayne

***John Muir—Scottish-born American writer, naturalist and advocate for national forests and parks.  1838-1914.