Let it Snow

I think we are all now well aware of my feelings for winter. I would be blissfully happy to live in an area where there are only two seasons; warm and warmer. But no, God in all His greatness has seen fit to place me in the mid-south. We do have four seasons, and I am ever grateful that winter seems to be the briefest of these. The worst part of this, our typically shortest season, is that it generally feels like some sort of seasonal purgatory. Neither cold enough to keep one indoors roasting chestnuts and the like, nor warm enough not to have to wrap ourselves in multiple layers and drab colors. No, winter in my home state, brief though it may be, tends to be grey and wet. For us there are no post card winters, where the boughs of the evergreens hang slack under the weight of newly fallen snow. I love the idea of sleigh rides, jingle bells and snow plows. Snow shoes are cute, toboggans are great accessories, and could there really be anything more darling than ice skating on a pond? But for us, none of those are ever part of our winter scene. Nope. We get soggy socks, muddy pants legs, short grey days.
But this year, something all together different has occurred. We've been visited by Jack Frost not once, but twice. As I type this the sky is shedding layer after layer of fresh snow, and the ground is piled with almost eight inches of it. The sun has set, but the white glow of the snow reflects what little light the moon is casting through the clouds, and sending out an almost eerie winter aura. It's gorgeous. It's unique. It' spectacular.
I know I wouldn't feel this way if every winter in my little home town was like this. If every morning dawned on a fresh blanket of newly fallen snow the wonder would cease, I'm sure. If our streets were constantly piled with exhaust covered piles of snow, the bloom would certainly be off the rose, as it were. However, here snow is something of a winter anomaly, and for that reason, I'll enjoy it. Don't get me wrong; I am more than ready for the first blooms of spring to peak their sleepy heads through the frozen ground, to don my gardening gloves and to break out the flip-flops. I'm really really ready. But, this snow is just another way that the universe tells me to stop, and enjoy. Enjoy the unique and the glorious in things that are really rather mundane and ordinary, and to most of all, relish every single moment of life! Spring will be here soon!