Spring is Coming...?

Since it's been a strange and impressive winter this year, I thought I'd give a quick update.  The last four days or so it's been sunny most of the time (it rained and snowed one evening and night, but not too much), and there's a lot of places on the ground without snow now--but there are also a lot with snow.  Basically, places people walk a lot and certain places that get the sun pretty much all day long are without snow; even so, the yards and fields pretty much all still have snow, even though many of them do have sun all day long--and all the roofs still have at least a little snow on them.  Today was warmer than the last couple (unfortunately, less clouds means really cold temperatures at night, however--I remember seeing -7C (19°F) before going to bed a few days ago, which would not have been the coldest it got in the night).  I was even able to go outside for a couple minutes this afternoon without my gloves or coat without freezing (or, I should say, without the bigger of the two coats I wear together--I haven't taken off the smaller one, even inside, for pretty much all the time I've been in Ch'ik'aani since early January).  And today I even had pointed out to me a few tiny flowers which had been hiding under the snow (there would normally have been flowers here for a month or so already--it's been a cold, snowy year).  Hopefully that's a sign of warmer weather to come.  Don't get me wrong, I love snow--but when your house has one small woodstove (and that's not uncommon in the villages), it can really wear on you.  But, of course, difficulties are good for our souls to overcome--so what will be, will be, and glory to God either way!


In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter