Cold Weather, Fruit Trees.. Not Citrus.., and Strong Communities

Most people think of cold weather as something to endure. But for fruit trees, winter cold isn’t just helpful — it’s essential.

Many fruit trees require a certain number of “chill hours” each winter. This period of cold dormancy allows trees to reset their internal systems and prepare for healthy growth and fruit production in the spring. Without enough cold, trees may bloom unevenly or fail to produce fruit at all.

A craggy pear tree in our backyard that, surprisingly, produces good fruit.

In other words, the cold doesn’t weaken fruit trees. It strengthens them.

There’s a lesson in that for all of us.

Communities, like orchards, don’t grow strongest during easy seasons alone. Our character is shaped in hard ones — during freezes, floods, economic downturns, and other moments when neighbors lean on one another and leaders have to make tough decisions.

In rural Texas, we’ve seen this again and again. After storms or disasters, people don’t wait to be told what to do. They check on elderly neighbors, share generators and firewood, clear roads, and bring meals. Churches open their doors. Volunteers show up.

Those moments are our community’s “chill hours.”

They test us. They slow us down. But they also build resilience, trust, and unity that last long after the crisis has passed.

That doesn’t mean hardship isn’t painful or costly. Hard times are still hard. But there’s a difference between being broken by adversity and being shaped by it.

Strong communities aren’t defined by the absence of trouble. They’re defined by how they respond to it.

Winter eventually gives way to spring. Trees bloom. Fruit forms. Harvest follows.

And communities that weather their winters together often emerge more united, more capable, and more confident in their ability to face whatever comes next.

Sometimes the seasons that seem to slow us down are the very ones preparing us to flourish.