Snow Daze

It's snowing again. We really have nothing to complain of this winter. There have been frequent snows but no fierce blizzards. But still, by February the white landscape is getting old and I'm wistfully thinking about spring. Groundhog day is past and Valentines is next week. After that, there's no reason to hang onto winter anymore. Seed and gardening catalogs are arriving in the mail, adding to the wishful thinking. 

John Steinbeck said, "What good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness."

Winter is a time of solitude when we pause from the hectic pace of the other three seasons and take time to savor life and family time indoors. There is time to do things that are crowded out in the other seasons. What that is for each person will vary with their station in life and interests. For some, it will be playing in the snow with children and for others it is curling up with a good book and a blanket. 

Winter is a time to reflect on the past and plan for the future. It is a time to catch our breath and revive our spirits. The trees need a season of rest to produce a new crop and so do we. 

“For everything there is a season, and

a time for every matter under heaven:

     a time to be born, and a time to die;

     a time to plant, and a time to pluck up 

what is planted;

     a time to kill, and a time to heal;

     a time to break down, and a time 

to build up;

     a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

     a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

     a time to throw away stones, and a

          time to gather stones together;

     a time to embrace, and a time to

          refrain from embracing;

     a time to seek, and a time to lose;

     a time to keep, and a time to

          throw away;

     a time to tear, and a time to sew;

     a time to keep silence, and a time to

          speak;

     a time to love, and a time to hate;

     a time for war, and a time for peace.”