--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have walked this south stream when to…" description: "\"I have walked this south stream when to believe in spring was an act of faith. It was spitting snow and blowing, and within two days of being May ... B..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/ann-zwinger-49944_ancient_i-have-walked-this-south-stream-when-to_2126039.jpg" --- # I have walked this south stream when to believe in spring… ![“I have walked this south stream when to believe in spring was an act of faith. It was spitting snow and blowing, and within two days of being May ... But as if to assert the triumph of climate over weather, one ancient willow managed a few gray pussy willows, soft and barely visible against the…” quote by Ann Zwinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/ann-zwinger-49944_ancient_i-have-walked-this-south-stream-when-to_2126039.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/ann-zwinger-49944_ancient_i-have-walked-this-south-stream-when-to_2126039.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/ann-zwinger-49944_ancient_i-have-walked-this-south-stream-when-to_2126039.jpg) > “I have walked this south stream when to believe in spring was an act of faith. It was spitting snow and blowing, and within two days of being May ... But as if to assert the triumph of climate over weather, one ancient willow managed a few gray pussy willows, soft and barely visible against the snow-blurred gray background.” [Ann Zwinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-zwinger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even in harsh conditions, signs of renewal appear, showing nature's persistence. **In simple terms:** Hope emerges even in difficult times. Key Takeaway Notice small signs of growth during adversity. Themes nature hope perseverance Mood contemplative hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - winter storms - early spring - environmental observation - personal hardship Key Concepts ecology seasonal cycles faith Questions to Reflect On - What small signs of renewal can you find now? - How does nature's resilience inspire you? A Different Perspective Not everyone sees subtle signs; optimism can be elusive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [April](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/april/) [Backgrounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backgrounds/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believe Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-spring-329661/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gray/) [Hiking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hiking/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Pussy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pussy/) [Sauntering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sauntering/) [Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/snow/) [South](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/south/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Springtime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/springtime/) [Streams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streams/) [Strolling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strolling/) [Trekking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trekking/) [Triumph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/triumph/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Two days](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-days/) [Visible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visible/) [Walked South](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walked-south-4360823/) [Walking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walking/) [Walks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walks/) [Wander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wander/) [Weather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weather/) [Weather Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weather-ancient-4360822/) ## Related quotes > [“A tree can be tempted out of its winter dormancy by a few hours of southerly sun—the readiness to believe in spring is stronger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-leach/a-tree-can-be-tempted-out-of-its-winter-dormancy-by-a-few-hours-of/) [Amy Leach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-leach/) > [“The winter was not really winter at all, and therein may lie Key West's greatest charm. 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One-fifth of the world's population never wears shoes - ever!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-tourles/the-best-treatment-for-feet-encased-in-shoes-all-day-is-to-go/) [Stephanie Tourles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-tourles/) > [Sweet pliability of man's spirit, that can at once surrender itself to illusions, which cheat expectation and sorrow of their weary moments! - long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/sweet-pliability-of-man-s-spirit-that-can-at-once-surrender-itself-to/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Of course it is of no use to direct our steps to the woods, if they do not carry us thither. I am alarmed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/of-course-it-is-of-no-use-to-direct-our-steps-to-the-woods-if-they-do/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I don't climb mountains. Mountains climb me. The mountain is myself. I climb on myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nanao-sakaki/i-don-t-climb-mountains-mountains-climb-me-the-mountain-is-myself-i/) [Nanao Sakaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nanao-sakaki/) > [Let me drink from the waters where the mountain streams flood Let the smell of wildflowers flow free through my blood Let me sleep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/let-me-drink-from-the-waters-where-the-mountain-streams-flood-let-the/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Mostly, two miles an hour is good going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-fletcher/mostly-two-miles-an-hour-is-good-going/) [Colin Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-fletcher/) > [The longest journey begins with a single step.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/the-longest-journey-begins-with-a-single-step/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-soil-is-the-great-connector-of-our-lives-the-source-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More by Ann Zwinger > [Flies are the price we pay for summer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-zwinger/flies-are-the-price-we-pay-for-summer/) [Ann Zwinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-zwinger/) > [There will always be something new to discover: a minute moss never found before, a rabbit eating birdseed with the bores on a hungry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-zwinger/there-will-always-be-something-new-to-discover-a-minute-moss-never/) [Ann Zwinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-zwinger/) > [“This landscape is animate: it moves, transposes, builds, proceeds, shifts, always going on, never coming back, and one can only retain it in vignettes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-zwinger/this-landscape-is-animate-it-moves-transposes-builds-proceeds-shifts/) [Ann Zwinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-zwinger/) > [A beaver does not, as legend would have it, know which direction the tree will fall when he cuts it, but counts on alacrity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-zwinger/a-beaver-does-not-as-legend-would-have-it-know-which-direction-the/) [Ann Zwinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-zwinger/) > [The life of the wood, meadow, and lake go on without us. Flowers bloom, set seed and die back; squirrels hide nuts in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-zwinger/the-life-of-the-wood-meadow-and-lake-go-on-without-us-flowers-bloom/) [Ann Zwinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-zwinger/) > [When there is a river in your growing up, you probably always hear it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-zwinger/when-there-is-a-river-in-your-growing-up-you-probably-always-hear-it/) [Ann Zwinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-zwinger/) [Explore all 7 Ann Zwinger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-zwinger/) ## More Ancient quotes > [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [In ancient times, those who wished to illuminate the world with virtue first brought order to their nations. Wishing to order well their nations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/in-ancient-times-those-who-wished-to-illuminate-the-world-with-virtue/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I don't know if I've come of age, but I'm certainly older now. I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/) [Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/ancient-societies-had-anthropomorphic-gods-a-huge-pantheon-expanding/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/those-of-us-with-this-ancient-compulsion-to-tell-stories-sometimes/) [Edward P. 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If they're willing to accept me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/so-what-if-i-m-ninety-three-so-what-if-i-m-ancient-and-cranky-and-my/) [Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/) > [Science has revealed a universe that is vast, ancient, violent, strange, and beautiful, a universe of almost infinite variety and possibility one in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/science-has-revealed-a-universe-that-is-vast-ancient-violent-strange/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) [Browse all 2,415 Ancient quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have walked this south stream when to believe in spring was an act of faith. It was spitting snow and blowing, and within two days of being May ... 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