We were fortunate up here in my neck of the woods to have missed the terrible storm that bombarded the East Coast over the weekend. Our only evidence was the wind and, of course, the cold. We have been in a bitter deep freeze for the last few weeks, with overnight temps below zero. When it hits in the 20's during the day, we celebrate. This week they are predicting 40 degrees by mid week - hooray! Except, of course, there is a snow storm headed our way for the end of the week. I don't care what the Groundhog sees on Wednesday, winter is here and it's here to stay until spring ... and the only one who knows when they will happen is Mother Nature.
This morning I woke to -3 degrees and now, at 9 AM, it is a whopping 0 degrees. However, the sun has come out and, against the brilliant blue sky, and the snow covered roofs and yards, it is an almost blinding light, but I'll take it. Nothing works better to lift my dark, cold, winter mood-swings than a burst of sunshine. I only wish the cold outside would match the warmth in my soul on a sunny day, but, it's winter, folks. That's the way it is. One day it is dark and gloomy (ok, lots of days are dark and gloomy), and then Mother Nature turns on the light and the sunshine lights up the world. Even the birds and animals find a little extra energy. The other day when it was sunny and hit an whole 25 degrees, I spied two very large and angry crows chasing a small hawk across the sky, letting that hawk know in no uncertain terms that he was not welcome here in crow territory. I also need not have worried about my furry little squirrel neighbors next door. The snow covered roof is also covered in tiny footprints up and down, and I even caught Mom and Dad playing chase in the giant pine tree next to the house. Of course, none of this takes place until well into the afternoon. When it's -3 degrees, everyone, even the furry and feathered ones, tend to sleep in until it warms up just a tad!
I guess the point to all of this is that winter is what it is: cold, snowy, icy, and seemingly endless. Yet, spring will come, the buds on the trees will bloom again, and the earth will come alive again. Of that we can be certain. So, I think I'll go make another cup of tea, drag out my yarn bag, and see if there is one more scarf or set of mittens in me to create. After that, maybe I'll start thinking about making a pretty little cotton tote bag for spring!
And so it is.
