It's hard to believe that a year ago, the snow had already melted and the ground had warmed enough to dry out so I could rake the lawn! This year, it will still be several weeks until we reach that point, but there are still a few things I'm working on to get geared up for warmer weather.

First off, the recent cold weather is slowing the snow melt to ease the flooding and I'm thankful for that. It also makes me mindful of the cycle of life and of the seasons. No matter how much we tend to disconnect ourselves from our climate and the environment, we still cannot fully control it or forsake it. The trick is to not see weather as an adversary, but as an ally - partner with it and you will improve your life and the lives of those around you.

If you're wondering where I'm going with this, here's the basic idea: Newton's Third Law of Motion.

Still wondering? Well, alright - I'll be a little more specific. Remember in The Lion King, when Simba learns about the circle of life? That's where we are - at another point on the circle. The rivers are bursting their banks with snow melt and runoff, threatening homes and businesses. On a much larger scale, an earthquake and massive tsunami have wreaked havoc on Japan. On a smaller scale, the snow is melting from my driveway and running down the street into the storm drains, which feeds into several interconnected ponds in our neighborhood. This small network of neighborhood ponds is now gathering the sand and salt from the road crews and anything my neighbors and I have dumped on our driveways. Every action has an equal an opposite reaction.

When I look at a landscape, I try to look beyond what humans have done to it to see what God has already put there for us to discover. I never try to fix a landscape, only to undo what has been done to it and restore it to its natural beauty. In order to maximize the beauty and enjoyment you get from nature, you need to minimize the damage done to it by people. Good intentioned people, but mostly inattentive to the life that exists around them.

This spring, have a long look at your yard and ask yourself - what needs to be undone to my yard? If you know something needs to be undone, but don't know where to start or what to do, give us a call, we'd be glad to offer some help.