When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels. ~Author unknown
Tag Archives: Winter
Hibernation: An Art
Winter is a time of promise because there is so little to do — or because you can now and then permit yourself the luxury of thinking so. ~Stanley Crawford, American writer and farmer
‘Tis the season for us to hibernate,
Hole up indoors and try to acclimate
While the snows outside start to accumulate
And the frigid temperatures rush to accelerate.
The wise prepare for this transition to incubate:
They gather food when the weather is adequate,
Gas for the car and wood for the grate;
Books, movies, puzzles while they isolate.
This season of quiet gives us time to cogitate
The meaning of Life and how we might mitigate
The miseries others face and extrapolate
Things we can do to make peace proliferate.
Of course, none of us can ever anticipate,
Nor can anyone fully appreciate
How long, how dreary this time we tolerate.
Ideas germinate, but we procrastinate.
We mean to get things done, but wait!
A nap is calling, so we vacillate.
Clean closets, tax prep, and such might motivate.
Maybe tomorrow. Today we vegetate!
Note: This is some sort of rhyming verse, I think.
Buried in White
Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories. ~An Affair to Remember, 1957, screenplay by Delmer Daves, Leo McCarey, and Donald Ogden Stewart
The weather experts said we got 11.5 inches of snow over Presidents’ Day weekend.
And, with temperatures not expected to reach 32 degrees until at least Sunday, it’s going to stick around a while.
So I decided to share some of it with you here (sorry I can’t scoop up a few inches and ship it to those of you who want some for reals!)
Please enjoy:
Waiting and Watching
Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. ~Victor Hugo, French poet, novelist, and dramatist (Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame)
Shivering as the north wind howls
Ice clings to evergreen boughs
When will spring return?
March 20 or thereabouts
Don’t give it another doubt
This mess will melt soon!
Relishing the Warmth
Punxsutawney Phil
Says six more weeks of winter.
Haven’t shoveled yet!
Winter Storm Olympia
More is not necessarily better. — me
This weekend, Central Illinois was scheduled to get “a little snow.”
That’s what the meteorologists at the TV station told us anyway. One to three inches, tops.
Right.
Finally…Some Melting
When temperatures finally climb above the freezing mark
And the sun shines brightly in the winter sky above,
Icicles hanging from the eaves of most houses
Begin to melt and drip in tapering shapes.
And gradually the warmth turns ice
Into cold water that’s destined
To refreeze overnight until
The same thing happens
The very next day, and
Eventually, drip by
Drip, the entire
Icicle melts
In a pool
Of H2O.
P.S. Poetic form is a Shape Poem.
Cheery Cherry
The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other. ~Arthur Rubinstein, Polish American classical pianist
Sometimes, we get lucky and find a tree that’s beautiful in all seasons. Such is the case with our Weeping Cherry.
It’s Snowing!
As I type this, it’s snowing outside.
Now, for some people, that would be a nuisance and an inconvenience. They’re the ones who bask in warm temps year-round, who never have to worry about snow-covered sidewalks and icy roadways. They don’t own winter coats or mittens, and boots are purely a fashion statement.
Part of me envies them their sunshine. I, too, used to live in the south where it’s easy to put up outside decorations at this time of year. But the bigger part of me welcomes winter.
C’mon, how many Christmas cards depict palm trees and beach scenes?? How many carols sing of balmy weather and golf courses? And you can’t roast chestnuts over an open fire when it’s blazing hot outside!
Nope, this is the time of year when it’s supposed to be cold. Trees, grass, and plants are supposed to grow dormant. Squirrels and birds are supposed to become scarce. Daylight is supposed to become shorter.
People, too, are supposed to “hibernate.”
I can remember many winters as a child when we used this time of year to learn new things — how to play chess, for example. Or pinochle or hearts, monopoly or backgammon. Sometimes, entire days would go by when we couldn’t leave the house for the weather.
Talk about cabin fever!
True, shoveling mounds of heavy snow isn’t on top of my Fun-Things-To-Do list. Nor is driving on icy streets, having to wear a heavy coat and boots everywhere, and looking outside on yet another bleak, gray day.
But there’s something to be said for curling up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate while the wind howls outside!
And, while winter itself sometimes seems to drag forever, it won’t be long before the days lengthen, the warmth returns, and the earth comes alive again.
That’s why I like having four distinct seasons!
What Happened to our Summers?
I used to look forward to summer.
When I was a kid, summer meant outside — no vegetating in front of the TV for us!
That long expanse of time between the end of one school year and the beginning of another found us getting together with friends, playing games and jacks, dancing to music. We’d buy frosty milkshakes from the ice cream vendor who scouted the neighborhoods, swim in our city’s pool, and play hours of tennis.
The days were long and sunny. Who cared if they were hot? Just wait around a while and a raging cold front would come through, driving temperatures back into the comfortable range, moistening the ground, pruning a few trees, and wiping away the humidity.
Nights would find us catching fireflies in jars (with holes poked in the lids so the bugs could breathe!). We’d ride our bikes to a friend’s house, play softball in a vacant lot, and enjoy the lingering daylight.
So what happened?
I’m not sure. The Weather Channel hasn’t addressed this, and I haven’t seen anything in our newspaper or on TV or the Internet to explain it.
Somewhere along the line, our weather has changed.
Our summers have become fierce, with tons of rain, violent storms, high temperatures, and unbearable humidity. When cold fronts come through nowadays, like as not they’ll kick our power out, cause the tornado sirens to wail, knock down shade trees, and finally spent, leave destruction, flooding, and more high temps and humidity in their wake.
Spring used to be our stormy season, but its days were short and we were in school. Once spring flew away, the days lengthened into summer, and we raced outside to enjoy every minute.
Hard to enjoy summer anymore.
We’ve had the rainiest June and July on record, I think. As soon as winter’s snow melted, we found ourselves smack-dab in the middle of a season that seems confused whether it’s “spring” or “summer”!
Maybe we’ll just have to look to autumn as our peaceful season from now on.
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 