Bring on the ducklings!

I have to admit I'm super excited about Spring. I can't wait to see new life peeking out from the ground and the tips of tree branches, small heads poking above the edge of the Stork's nest outside the school windows, and little ducklings following their mothers down to the river. It fills me with a thrill that I can't quite explain. The beauty of renewal. The freshness of beginnings. Not to mention my hope in the warmth of the sun.
At the same time, in the midst of all this burgeoning new life, I have also seen the sinister side of nature. This morning the sidewalk was littered with corpses, small bodies strewn in careless disarray. Some still wriggled with life, seeking solace from their hopeless exposure. Others had lost the will to live altogether. Bits and pieces curled helplessly, nearly unrecognizable. Those who had died first were smashed in places, the wounds swelling up in bulbous pustules, bloated and lumpy. I could scarce contain the urge to vomit as I did my best not to step on any of them. The macabre scene was not the way I wanted to begin my day. But such is a commonplace experience in Spring.
I couldn't help but ask myself why. Why would the surrender themselves to such hopelessness? Why forgo the pleasures of life and security within the confines of the soft earth for the harsh reality of death on the sidewalk? We generally associate Spring with life, but all around me I saw only death and dying.
How fortuitous that I am not a worm. But do I sometimes expose myself to things equally as harmful? Am I drawn by the cool temptation of the rain to entertain a life that will lead only to brutal ruin? A little food for thought as the temperatures rise...
But even in the midst of this darker side I'm still filled with the hope of something more. Something better by far. Despite the candy coated offerings of the world, there is good to be found. There is an abundance of joy in my heart as I look forward to Spring, and further still into summer.