Easter is this Sunday. Here in Minnesota we could be flying kites at the park or pulling on our snow boots. This week I have reminisced with friends about Easter outfits past, some with bonnets and matching pastel shoes thwarted by an untimely spring snowstorm. This is one of those years where spring is late in coming. Oh, the calendar says it’s here but apparently nobody alerted the weather. We just dug into the coffers for funds to undam the roof of the cabin where the ice was 5″ thick in some places. Still, we can’t help but peek at the forecast and hope for double digits above freezing and the absence of those dreaded words, “snow accumulations”.

Today I was reminded of the quote “Ever forward, but slowly.” These words were made famous by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher a Prussian General at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813 where he successfully drove back Napoleon and his troops. It seemed fitting that the context of that quote was a battle. This year we are fighting an uphill battle against inflation, political and social polarity and a seemingly endless series of national and global natural disasters. So as I sit staring at the little flakes being whipped past my office window by a stiff April wind, I am considering what “forward” looks like and how I can help. One thing I can do is to give context to today. It is just that, a day and a day does neither a trend nor a year make. Tomorrow the weather will be different and maybe the economy too. Another helpful action I can take is to ensure that I am expressing more gratitude than griping. Complaining about the weather does not gain one more degree of warmth, but gratitude for the much needed moisture locked in the snow banks and for my cozy home warms my heart within me. It’s a slow thaw, but it is working in me and hopefully radiating a little warmth to those nearby as well. And forward is still forward no matter how slowly. Cue the crocuses.