Winter is a hard season for me. I love the seasons where I live, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think I’d appreciate spring as much. It’s not so hard in December, when the year is at its darkest in the pre-holiday frenzy. I find solace in the cheerful twinkling of the lights on every house and building.
In January, the darkness persists but the lights are extinguished. I am the first one up in the morning, and this winter I have had to shovel a path down the driveway for the paper more often than not. On clear mornings the stars in the constellation Orion hang in the pre-dawn sky like so many sharp little points of ice.
However, if you asked me, I’d vote for warm weather and green grass every time. The world eventually turns towards that goal, and I start to revive and cheer up when it becomes apparent that the weather is finally going to start warming up and I can look forward to spring. I think I’ve made it through the darkness into the light once again.
Indoor flowers also sustain us gardeners while we watch the sun turn back towards the northern sky. I rescued an amaryllis from the local Walmart in January of 2015, and it bloomed for me this year. As pathetic as it looked that first year, I certainly wasn’t expecting a bloom until next season at the earliest. A lovely red cluster of four blossoms have been developing for the last few weeks, and this week they burst into bloom.
I’m happy to hear from the weather service that the next week, at least, will be sunny and warmer than it’s been. I’ll be happy to see some of the mounds of snow disappear. Friday morning, we had another 3 inches of light, fluffy snow. I am not complaining. Last year about this time I was starting to worry about what turned out to be a very dry winter.
I think this year we’ll be worrying more about flooding.
For now, I’m going to be pulling up Richie Havens on my playlist a lot…
"Here Comes The Sun"
(originally by The Beatles)
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's alright
Little darling, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's alright
Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's alright
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's alright
It's alright
(h/t azlyrics.com)