The Changing Seasons: Preparing for Mother Nature's Fury

After this winter, most of us are very happy to see spring.  The days are much longer now.  In general, there’s a lot more light and lot less dark.  It’s warming up slowly in some parts of the country, but it is getting warmer.  The snow and the ice have melted.  In many places it’s gone.

         But, unfortunately, spring brings some adversity of its own.  Flooding comes to mind immediately for many people in many areas of this country.  In Maine this has to do with ice jams on rivers as the spring comes and the warmer temperatures produce snowmelt.  And for us in Maine, mud comes to mind.  No, it is not as catastrophic as the mudslides on the West Coast, but it certainly can be annoying.  And then, of course, there are the storms that come with the spring.  Heavy rains, thunderstorms, lightning and tornadoes.  You can do some preparation for these potential disasters such as creating a ReadyKit for you and your family, which includes enough food for a few days, drinking water, flashlights and batteries, a hand-crank radio and other items which the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)  would be happy to list for you.  Go to their website or your state EMA.  But other than that, there’s not much you can do about the weather, except control your reaction to it.

So enjoy the things around you, such as the flowers pushing their way (for some of us) through the remaining snow and ice.  The longer days.  The warmth of the spring sun.  And the realization that summer is just around the corner.  And for those of us in Maine, summer is a wonderful season.  We have the occasional lightning storm and tornado, but in general it is a wonderful time to kick back and enjoy being alive.  So enjoy the spring and look forward to the summer and congratulate yourself, even if you enjoy winter sports such as skiing and snow-shoeing, for having made it through a long, cold and icy winter.