Springing into action

Hypothesis: Spring is not a gentle season.
Discuss.

Factoids:
1. Snow melt in cold climates along with heavy spring rains produces widespread flooding.
2. Rapid temperature swings increase chances of severe weather including thunderstorms, hail, freezing rain, late blizzards.
3. People respond to changeable weather with increasing irritiability, joint aches & pains, and susceptibility to minor ailments. Mortality increases in populations reliant on seasonal foods, as stores become depleted or deteriorated.
4. While it may look "nicer" outside as plants "green up", increases in insect pests like mosquitoes and blackflies may make it intolerable, as does the flood of pollen for many. Molds and dust lurk under melting snowbanks to add to the burden of allergens.
5. The advent of daylight savings time results in greater frequency of road accidents during the week following the change.

Why is there a disconnect between popular perception of spring as a season of soft colours, baby animals and gentle renewal with the reality of the season as one of the most stressful periods of the year? My view is that winter in northern countries is so painfully long that we impose our own wishful thinking on the reality. We know winter is hard. Therefore spring must be gentle.

We forget that growth and change are painful. This may be a necessary coping mechanism. Or it may simply be a symptom of our will to make the world conform with our notion of how it should be. It is no coincidence that most mythologies incorporate periods of deprivation, struggle and death into their parables of spring. All of this is required for renewal. Where we in the modern world lose the page is in our constant expectation of the best without the leaven of the worst.

Spring is, above all, a season of hope. Achieving those hopes means understanding the risks of not moving towards them, and agreeing to undergo the pain. Delusions of gentleness mask spring's true promise.