Winter Yearnings

August - typically the hottest month of the year in the American South...

Each summer, I inwardly sigh in longing for the return of cold weather, wood stove fires, snowy afternoons with books and tea, delicious hot bowls of soups and chili, outfits that include boots and scarves... I feel like I should be singing "these are a few of my favorite things" for, indeed, winter is one of my "favorite things". Though I do not like sitting outside in the freezing cold, I prefer that to the oppressive heat of summer; and there are so many things about the wintertime that I do enjoy. On the especially cold days, I often bundle up and walk into our woods, admiring all the things that became frozen overnight. On such days, our creek is often covered with a thin layer of ice. Sometimes our hose starts dripping in the night and the water freezes before it falls, creating a humorous and lovely ice sculpture of sorts in the morning.

I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 3 where we are told that "for everything there is a season". Though I do not believe the author was speaking of the physical seasons of the earth, it is appropriate for those as well. Knowing this as I do, I know that there is a season for heat as well as a season for cold. Perhaps the heat is given to us to make us appreciate the cold all the more when it comes, and vice-versa. All I can say is that I hope this "season" is over soon so that we may enjoy the beautiful ones of autumn and winter.