As February continues and I become impatient for spring I have to remind myself that winter cannot be hurried through.
“Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.”
― Wintering: The power of rest and retreat in difficult times
Wintering — Season for Tending the Soul
I felt triumphant when we turned the corner from January into February. “Ah,” I thought, “the worst of winter is surely over. Spring will be here before you know it.”
But now it is almost the middle of February and I sigh when I look out my windows at the cold white world outside. Snow is falling this afternoon and the skies are a dull gray. It feels like night is falling but we still have several hours of daylight left.
Yesterday I took a walk in the bright sunlight on a balmy 45 degree day. But even then I felt no enthusiasm for taking my camera with me on my walk. I feel like I’ve seen it all before and there is nothing new or beautiful to see. It’s all white and gray. Soon I will re-discover my enthusiasm for the hidden beauty of this landscape, but not today.
“Life meanders like a path through the woods. We have seasons when we flourish and seasons when the leaves fall from us, revealing our bare bones. Given time, they grow again.”
― Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
I know that winter will end. the grass will green and trees pop out electric green leaves again in the spring. But now, in this white and gray season I am finding small comforts to pass the days until spring arrives.
Extra Challenges
The pandemic doesn’t help me weather this season because it eliminates many outings I might otherwise make. Though I long to walk through the Como Conservatory and soak up its scents and sights I am putting visiting there until the COVID numbers drop off more.
“Plants and animals don’t fight the winter; they don’t pretend it’s not happening and attempt to carry on living the same lives that they lived in the summer. They prepare. They adapt. They perform extraordinary acts of metamorphosis to get them through. Winter is a time of withdrawing from the world, maximizing scant resources, carrying out acts of brutal efficiency and vanishing from sight; but that’s where the transformation occurs. Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.”
― Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
So I treat myself to fresh flowers every week. And I spend hours photographing them and admiring them. On snowy afternoons like today, I sit in a chair with a steaming cup of ginger tea, sipping and reading with cat in my lap.
Cycles and Rhythms of Life
This season shapes me and everyone else, preparing us for the next cycle of life. Can we befriend and accept these moments? Perhaps we can even find grace and gratitude for moments like these, when we nourish our roots preparing for the next circle of growth and change in the cycle of life.
“That’s the gift of winter: it’s irresistible. Change will happen in its wake, whether we like it or not. We can come out of it wearing a different coat.”
― Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
Are you wintering well my friends? If not, what will help you to accept and appreciate this season?
May you walk in beauty.
Playing around with Pep Ventosa affect, layered 36 images of flowers each one turned slightly until I had photographed all 360 degrees of the bouquet
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