Like a Lion

Here I sit, watching the snow fall steadily down, outside the kitchen window. The blizzard hasn't really started yet, but the freezing rain, followed by this snow, has arrived, just as numerous meteorologists have predicted, so I expect the winds to crank up to hurricane force within a couple of hours, as forecasted. 

After a relatively dry winter, here in the Nebraska Panhandle, we have already had about sixteen inches of heavy, wet, snow in March. This year, March has come in like a lion.

You've probably heard the old adage, "in like a lion, out like a lamb," referring to the month of March, which is supposed to start out with winter's full fury, and end with the promise of spring. I think it really worked that way, most years, when I was a little girl living in northeastern Nebraska. When we moved down to Fairbury, though, March sometimes started off with spring-like weather right away. When Bill and I  relocated to northern Michigan, we were surprised to find that the first day of spring always passed us by, just another date on the calendar, as winter continued well into April and often into the still-snowy month of  May.

Our last March in Michigan, when the snow piled up even more than usual.
That's me, standing on a heap of snow in our front yard.

Here in western Nebraska, March usually starts out with significantly mild weather, and continues with a few blustery days here and there, before melding into April, which also boasts its share of sunny, spring days and snowy, winter-like days we would prefer to see in January. Even though this is our fourth or fifth snowstorm of the month, we've also enjoyed a couple of balmy days--like yesterday, when we experienced the proverbial "calm before the storm."

In spite of the cloud cover, yesterday was a beautiful day to hike to the Monument and back, even though we had to trudge through ankle-deep snow much of the way, on the unshoveled path.

As I recall, several devastating blizzards, long ago, began with unseasonably warm days that caught people unaware, resulting in far too many deaths. Now, thanks to modern technology, meteorologists have been excited to announce this "storm of the century" well in advance, so no one should be caught off guard. In fact, every school in the panhandle has suspended classes for today, and many schools have already called off school for tomorrow, as well. Some of WalMart's shelves were totally empty by last evening, as people over-prepared for this massive storm. All of the government offices are shuttered, the mall has shut down, and nearly every major highway in this part of the state was closed early this morning, before the snow even started to fly. Only essential personnel are working today, at the hospital and in patrol cars. And, of course, some dedicated ranchers are working outside all day, trying to save each newborn calf that has the misfortune to enter this world during a blizzard.  

I am sure that, after all of the hype, our local meteorologists are praying that this storm will live up to its potential, so no one ends up with egg on his face.

My backyard, yesterday, was still mostly snow-covered from last Friday's 6-8 inches of unexpected, heavy snow, but the sidewalk was awash with melted snow that had nowhere to go. By now, the water has frozen into a skating rink, as have most of our residential streets.

The snow flying through the air just now,
in front of my neighbor's tree.

So today, we wait out the storm, which has ramped up to an all-out blizzard as I've been writing this blog. If the snow continues to fall at the predicted rate of an inch or two an hour, we will surely end up with the 10-20 inches that have been predicted. But we will never be able to tell for sure, because wind gusts of 50-60 miles per hour will blow all of that snow into mountainous drifts. I guess we should be grateful that this storm has come in March, because the spring days ahead will (hopefully) melt the snow pretty quickly. Then, all we will have to worry about is possible flooding.

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All of this consideration of lion- and lamb-like weather has made me think about Jesus, who certainly came to this world as a lamb, when he was born as a baby in Bethlehem. At the end of his earthly life, he was still a lamb, our sacrificial Lamb of God, who came to take away the sin of the world. But he proved himself to be the greatest Lion, who overcame death, once and for all, when he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven to prepare a place for us. Praise be to the ultimate Lion and Lamb!