A Winter Gift



Ice slowly melting in the January thaw


This has been a strange winter. It has been mild with only moderate snow fall. December roared in with temperatures below zero and then mellowed and allowed warmer air to move in. The heavy snow from Christmas Eve and Christmas day is mostly gone. Only a few patches remain along the fence and shaded areas of the yard. No piles of shoveled snow line the edges of the driveway. The grass creeping out from under the melting snow is green. What a tease--I wonder if my perennials in the flower beds near the fence are feeling an urge to poke their noses out.

 

This reprieve is definitely not the norm and most likely spring will still arrive in late late April. There have been days when the sun has chased away the gray sky and on those days the spirit sings in gratitude. The darker sky always returns but just interspersing it with blue sky and sun makes winter more tolerable There is a beauty that winter shows on a bright clear day. The sky seems bluer with the billowing white clouds adding soft accents, and the sun more intense

This winter may be a reward for enduring many long, cold and snowy winters in the past--sixty six in all. Or it could be Mother Nature's way of teasing. Reward or tease--I gratefully accept the winter package and count this season of change a welcome gift.