Jesus is risen. Alleluia! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! This Easter week, Jesus’ resurrection is not all we are celebrating, though.
Here in Marathon and most of North Central Wisconsin, the sun has also risen. It shines brightly through the stained glass windows in the chapel for Morning Prayer, bathing the chapel in multi-colored sunbeams.
Along with the sun, the temperatures have risen as well. We went from this year’s first 50 degree day on Saturday, to our first 60 degree day on Sunday, to a couple of 70 degree days followed by 80 degree days on Wednesday and Thursday. JustBob is grateful to be working outside on something besides plowing and shoveling snow. He is taking advantage of the warm days and sunshine to start cleaning up some of the winter storm damage. He is also grateful to have several volunteers who came in to help him out with the cleanup over the course of the week. If you enjoy working outside with power tools, give JustBob a call – there’s plenty left to be done.
With most of the snow gone and the temperatures up, the gardens have begun to come to life and the grass has started to green up. The crocuses have risen and blossomed, with tulips, irises and day lilies also poking their leaves out to soak up some sunshine. No surprise that the dandelions have also risen.
The only snow that remains are in plow piles, and they are shrinking fast. Of course, the result is a very soggy front yard, plenty of water running into the pond, over the dam and out to the Rib River. The river itself has also risen, and the water is high, wide and flowing fast. The sandbar/jetty is completely underwater and you only know it is there because of the trees growing in the middle of the river. The same is true of the northern river bank, now only identifiable by the tree line. Of course, that also means area homes that are in the low-lying areas near the river are dealing with flooding. For their sake, we hope and pray the water will recede quickly.
Somewhere, the asparagus has also risen, though not in our garden quite yet. JustBob shared some fresh asparagus with the staff for lunch this week, and it was warmly received, as much as the warm weather, sunshine, and crocuses.
Resurrection is not hard to find. It is all around us, and not just this week. This week, though, perhaps it was just easier to see with the bright sunshine. Maybe this week we can learn to recognize and praise God for those resurrections we experience throughout our lives.
For all of this week’s resurrections, and all of life’s resurrections, and for the joy they bring us, we say Deo Gratias!