Sunday, August 24, 2008

Entry for January 25, 2007 ~ Winter!

Winter has finally come to my neck of the woods.
There has been some debate as to whether or not that is a good thing, but, looking at it from an artist's point of view, I couldn't be more pleased!
As long as the roads are clear for driving, and people are careful, there is no reason why we shouldn't want Winter to come this time of year. With the way the planet is warming up, we need all the cold we can get when it's time to be cold...I guess one could say it's better for us to 'suffer the slings and arrows' of Winter when it's Wintertime, than to wait until April and make our way through a massive blizzard while hunting for Easter eggs!
If I were living in Florida, or Alabama, or South America, then I would be more than a little upset ~ there's just something out of place when the snow covers the top of a palm tree ~ but when it drapes the boughs of an evergreen, there is nothing finer.
The animals are used to this change in climate...God in His infinite wisdom has ingrained in them the instincts they need for survival, the ability to stay warm in their native habitat, their 'storing for the Winter' of whatever food they crave...even the amazing adaptations in their very bodies to get through. Birds 'fluff', squirrels 'fatten', foxes 'huddle'...they, each and every one of them, have their way.
We sit by our fires, blowing on our cups of hot cocoa, reading and telling stories far into the night, the wind howling outside our windows. We venture out at daybreak, shovels in hand, ready to meet another day of cold, bundled against the icy chill that is Nature's way for the time of year, squinting our eyes against the glisten of the sun on the newly fallen snow.
People seem to think that it should be warmer than this; they complain about having to wear a jacket; they groan about having to 'warm the car' or 'spread salt'...they fail to see the beauty and the wonder of the Season, and some of God's best work.
I, for one, refuse to be blind to it. I will forever love the change in the Seasons that is part of living my entire life here in Michigan, the Water-Winter Wonderland.
My father once told me that it was right that we call Nature feminine. She is one to change her 'look' every three months, her colors, her jewelry, her style...he loved every Season for what it brought and I take after him. If I were to change her at all, it would be to make the year longer so I could have more than three months of each Season ~ I have no favorite anymore.
It is Winter because it is time for Winter. It is God's way of bringing new life to His green Earth, after a long sleep, every turn of the calendar...and I rejoice in that!

1 comment:

*~JennD.'J.M.J.'~* said...

* Lisa
You should be published in magazines...Guideposts comes to mind!
Lisa
Friday January 26, 2007 - 09:24am (PST)