OLD MAN WINTER

Living in the East can be a challenge in the winter. Right up there with the best! I have learned to make friends with Old Man Winter, though!

The first snowfall is a mixed blessing. There is the beauty of it, followed by the realization that indeed, snow tires are going to be needed soon. I keep wishing it would learn NOT to snow in the road!

One of my favorite winter pastimes has to be having the grandchildren up and making snowangels in the front yard. We also build snowforts and have snowball fights.

Shoveling is not a favorite, but a necessity since I live in the country. Each morning the plow goes by and plows in the driveway, making a
good case for staying home and having some hot soup and a sandwich!

I also like to write, some of my best work is done when the snow is piling up outside. It is a time to let the earth rest, and I like to rest right along with it.

Turning on some music, I listen to the strains of old songs, and remember other winters. It doesn't look like this one will be too bad. I put on the water for coffee and look outside as the white flakes come drifting steadily down.

I grab my camera and go outside to record this years beauty. It is peace, solitude and the birdfeeders being used by late-leaving birds, on their way South to a warmer clime.

The seed catalogs arrive and I spend hours pouring over them, dreaming of the garden of flowers I will have in the Spring. There are new variaties of roses, so beautiful. I start planning and making out an order.

There is something beautiful about baking in the wintertime. The smell of a hot apple pie fresh from the office greets me as I pass through the kitchen on my way to the door to catch the mailman. I give him my order, and chat for a moment before he heads out on the road to the next house.

Yes, winter is a favorite season. A time of rest for renewal, both for me and for the earth. I would not trade this for anything. No trips to a sunny, sandy beach for me. I will stay and bloom where I am planted.