It's 9 degrees this morning with snow on the ground. There's very little to suggest that we are headed towards spring. And yet today we will gain 1 minute and 13 seconds of daylight. Tomorrow, 1 minute and 17 seconds, and each day will continue to get lighter, and at an increasing rate. 1 minute and 13 seconds doesn't sound like much. It actually isn't, and it's basically not noticeable. Yet, day after day, the increase in light adds up and then we find ourselves in mid-February noticing it's still light at 5 pm and the cardinals are starting to sing.

Pauses are built in to the natural order of things.