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Winter Solstice


It's here. The shortest, darkest day of the year, the beginning of winter. I know there is good in everything, but it is really hard for me to get excited about winter. The winters are usually mild in North Alabama, but those few cold, biting days are enough to turn me against it.


Winter helps to refine us.  If it wasn't for winter, would we thankful for warm houses and good coats?  Would we ever know the joy of sitting in front of a fireplace as the cold and the day melts off?  Would we ever get to wear our fabulous knitted scarves?


For the next few weeks, we will be celebrating the holidays and basically ignoring the bad weather, unless it is so bad that it interferes with driving.  Winter is still too new to be aggravating. About mid-January, reality sets in, and I start counting the weeks until spring.  I don't think I could live someone where winter lasts for six months or more. Blame it on my Southern blood.

 
One thing I know: the more harsh the winter, the more we appreciate the spring when it comes.

 
I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again. 
― Lewis Carroll

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