April Fool?

 What a beautiful spring day--the grass is green, the daffodils and tulips are blooming, and even the big trees have leaves.  The lilacs are blooming, too!  What's wrong with this picture?  It's only April first!  True, we often have daffodils blooming by this time of year, and sometimes a few tulips, too.  But the trees shouldn't leaf out for at least three or four more weeks, and lilacs aren't supposed to bloom until Mother's Day, or even Memorial Day!

I'm not complaining.  I love warm spring days.  But the temperature today was 88 degrees.  It was too hot to work outside comfortably this afternoon.  I'm concerned about the summer to come.  If the first of April is this hot, what will the weather be like on the first of July?

2011 was a record-breaking year for moisture.  Last spring was cool and rainy.  It was much too wet to even think about planting a garden until the end of May.  Last spring, the kids came in soaking wet from recess everyday, from playing in the puddles that covered much of the playground. This year, we are praying for rain.  I helped my preschoolers plant a salad garden on the playground last week, but we have to carry the watering can outdoors every day to water the parched ground.

Have you noticed that people are never content with the weather?  We think it's too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry, and almost always, in western Nebraska, too windy.  This year is different from most, though, because spring just seemed to come way too early.  We aren't really complaining, are we?  Perhaps we're waiting anxiously in case fickle April should still deliver a snow storm or two.  In the meantime, I guess we will revel in our unseasonable spring weather while it lasts.

 
I can almost see God's smile, and I can imagine Him whispering those words we may have already heard too often today: "April Fool!"