winter

i hate winter.
with a passion.

you see, winter is cold. and winter is DARK. especially up here. at winter solstice (the end of december) we only have about three hours of light. yes. you read that right. three. hours. of. light. we still don't have a full day of light yet. the sun (oh, blessed sun) comes up around nine or ten and sets at about 4:30. twilight is short and dawn is long. so. onto the cold. this winter we've had -40 to -50 degree weather for weeks on end. i don't go outside but to run to my car, drive with curses in my head, and run to wherever it is i'm going, (generally the grocery store) and then come home. all because i must eat. so sad.

so. i hate winter.

but on my first walk i asked God if there was anything he wanted me to notice. and He said, "yes. just ahead." i walked the path down to the river, asking Him along the way if i'd gotten there yet. He said, "at the river." okay. so i got to the river and stopped. and stared.

it was beautiful.

trees were covered in thick heavy snow. the river, not fully frozen, had humps of snow peeking over the edges of the ice into the steely water. the bridge was gray with frost. and the sky! oh, the sky. heavy like a the underside of a down quilt. almost urging me to slumber. and i thought, "okay. so winter can be beautiful, too. there is beauty in all the seasons."

winter is a time of rest. of introspection. my spirit animal is bear, and bears hibernate in the winter. this is a time to gather inspiration, to fill my brain with stories from books. to look deep within myself and see what i want to change, where i want to grow, what i need to cut back and trim. to prepare for the coming of spring and be ready to *be the change*.

there is beauty in all the seasons. they all have their place in the cycle. and isn't life a cycle? we follow the path that twists and turns and keep coming back to the issues that we need to work on, the same marvelous things about ourselves. the path is not an endless line. it is a circle, perfect in it's symmetry. a circle that is ever widening, leading us onward into greatness. leading us to where God wants us to be.

i pray that, you too, will find beauty in all the seasons.