Winter

It has been a couple of months since I last posted anything.  In that time I was able to welcome a new granddaughter into this world and watch the older two develop into the wonderful people I know they will be. 

Winter came, Christmas came and now we are almost at the end of the very long month of January.  That is good!  Somehow it didn't feel like it took forever (which happens most years for me).  I think that November and January are the worst months of the year.  November is when the trees are stripped of their color and the grass fades and wind is bitter and everything waits for the snow.  January is when the days are so short I feel like every minute is ticking and I have to get the most out of the daylight.  Now that is all coming to an end!  February is arriving and with it the sun.  Winter is not so bad when the sun accompanies it.  Longer days lend a sense of relief to the winter darkness and remind me of the coming season.

When I look out my window I see hills, trees, freshly fallen snow and the thermometer reads a balmy -3 C.  A glorious day.  I will finish what is before me and perhaps treat myself to a day out of the house.

One day at a time, one foot in front of the other, one thing and then the other.  These are things that make each day precious, each day new, each day different than the next.  I believe that they even shortened the month of January for me. 

Learning always learning, taking it all in, and treasuring it.  I have even found myself measuring my words.  If it is not worth saying, don't say it.  We say so many useless things in a day, say what matters.  It doesn't necessarily mean a constant serious tone.  To me it means listening and responding in kind.  It means asking honest questions and expecting honest answers, which in turn demand the time it takes to listen.  But how wonderful to have filled that gap in someone's day or your own!!  I cannot stop reiterating how wonderful life really is.  It is so fulfilling in and of itself and it blossoms.  Life is always enlarging itself.  It is exponential.

Winter reminds me of rest, solitude, reflection, challenge, and the wonderful feelings of provision.  Providing food, warmth......protection from the elements.  It is a necessary time of year, not a hibernation (as it is often compared to), but a regeneration.  Time to till up the furrows of our mind, challenge ourselves and see how far we can step outside the box of our comfort zone. Winter provides us with time for that.

In time the wintery mantle will be,
Shed from the rooftops, garden and trees.
Sunshine quickens the rivers and brooks,
Trickling life into crannies and nooks!

Down with knitting,the books, and food
Up with gumboots, sweaters and mood.
Winter has left us our thoughts and our fears,
Taught us to treasure another good year,

Left us to tend to the garden we made.
A garden of dreams and ideas, and bade..
Us farewell as we sail into spring
Cultivating all that the winter did bring.