Extolling Winter’s Grace

            December ushers in the Winter Season with its short days, long nights, north wind, and hard frosts.  The naysayers view Winter as a half empty glass of solid ice.  Some seek refuge to southern climes leaving behind cold-hating kindreds hunkering down like groundhogs waiting to see their shadows. 

            Contrarians view Winter as a half full glass of hot toddy and embrace that fundamental part of the Four Seasons that mirror the cycle of life, death and rebirth.  The hardy favor Winter’s  vigor over Summer’s torpor.

            If variety is the spice of life, then Winter serves as a main ingredient.  The outdoor grill gives way for the kitchen stove that warms and aromatizes our hearths with the redolence of  stews, soups, dumplings and roasts that stoke our internal fires.   Cold temps warm appetites.

            Arctic incursions mandate a style makeover with sweaters, scarfs, hats and boots. Confronting the cold—getting out into it rather than a mere shuttle from car to home—adds antifreeze to our internal engines that acclimates us to the chill.  As an old Ozark country boy remarked:  “I don’t mind the cold as long as the wind don’t blow; I don’t mind the wind so long as my ass don’t show.”

            Even the hardy blanche at dank, wind-swept days, the converse of a humid heat wave.  But joy to the world when iron gray clouds give way to a bluebird sky.  The sun beckons us for a hike in the park or forest that warms our core, the fresh crisp air seemingly imbibed rather than merely inhaled.   With the foliage down, the view expands deep into woodland recesses of crags, hollows and rills heretofore hidden from our visage.  

            January’s angled sunlight oft colors the sky with magical sunsets.  The fading day’s  golden hour’s muted light unveils a surreal panorama of surrounding structures that stand in stark relief and the bare trees skyward limbs up to their sinuous fingered branches reveal nature’s artistry.

            Cold warriors long for fresh snow that blankets the winter wonderland with an angel dusting that delicately graces tree limbs and woodland nooks and crannies into a wedding white cathedral where the sound of silence prevails.

Snow settles softly
Silent surroundings shimmer
Serene subtle show

            The young and young at heart exclaim hip-hip hooray for the winter wonderland as they hurriedly don layered clothing and boots for a frosty carpe diem.  Art Hill sledders of all ages fill the air with a communal glee.  

            We wait longer for fewer snowy days.  Ever warmer weather—and a national indifference to climate change—makes us shiver in fear of Old Man Winter’s decline, which bodes impact on all the seasons.

            Darkness descends early prefacing a retreat home for a time called Hygge, a Danish concept relating to cozy contentment in a warm inviting atmosphere with soft lighting.  Hygge adherents find joy in the simple pleasure of a relaxing unwind whether a convivial evening  with family or friends, enraptured by a good book or just chilling in front of the Telle.  

            We sleep more soundly snuggled in blankets during cold weather—especially for those who ventured outdoors and expended energy.   Sleep naturally lasts longer when darkness extends further into the early morning hours—though it does take more effort to rise from the covers when obligations dictate.

            Morning brings a hard frost that tamps down pestering insect populations and suspends allergies.  The sun rises earlier and sets later each day as time marches towards March.  The forest awaits verdant rebirth that augurs renewal for us all.  There is no Spring without Winter.

            Cold weather celebrants remember the Japanese proverb when greeting those who remain unappreciative of Winter’s Grace:  “One kind word can warm three winter months.”