Well, the Hard Winter is over — for most of us, anyway — and spring has arrived in all its glory. As we celebrated winter’s end with the Ingalls family in our final chapters of The Long Winter discussion, so I have been celebrating the coming of spring in my own life, as well.
It is well-known that Laura referred to her windows as “pictures” — that she enjoyed the beauty of nature so much she couldn’t bear to cover it up with curtains. She spent much of her day at home, and so could gaze often at her pictures. In today’s busy hustle and bustle, I’m not afforded that same opportunity. However, it occurred to me this week that I have pictures of a different sort.
Moving pictures.
I’m on the road a lot, for my job, and as I drive the roads of rural West Virginia, my car windows become my ever-moving, yet beautiful, pictures. I so enjoy spring. The world is bathed once more in green after the dead browns of winter. The dogwoods and the redbuds sprinkle the view with pinks and purples and whites. Shafts of sunlight streak through the trees and brighten the path ahead.
Our pictures are all different, as we live in various parts of the country, even the world. I challenge you this week to look at the world through your own pictures, whether still or moving, and delight in them as Laura once did in her own. Then share them with the rest of us, so we can enjoy them too.