Just a few days ago I was shivering wearing a winter coat and watching reports that the area might be getting a few more inches of snow. Winters really can be tough in the Northeast, especially like this year when in just over a month, more than 60 inches of snow dropped and the temperatures remained frigid for weeks on end. I can’t say for sure if the groundhog correctly predicted things this year. What I do know is that winter seemed like it was never going to cease and then suddenly it did when I awoke yesterday with the sun shining and a temperature close to 60 degrees.
While I really don’t enjoy winter at all, I have come to co-exist with it knowing that its days are always numbered. But more importantly, I’ve come to appreciate winters knowing I wouldn’t if it was warm all the time. Southern Florida and Southern California always seem inviting to me because of their year round balmy temperatures. I’ve hesitated though in relocating there because many people that migrate there from the north, end up leaving and coming back. Most say it’s because they miss the change in seasons.
I believe that if I did move to a year-round warmer climate I would probably take vacations up north just to occasionally see the sun twinkle on the snow a day after a storm. I love to see a wet snow come in and coat all the trees and then for the sun to emerge with a blue sky around it. It really does create a breathtaking masterpiece in nature.
Life is really like this isn’t it?
Would summer vacation have been as great when I was a kid if I never had gone to school?
Would taking a week or two of vacation in the winter have been as exciting if I was able to go on vacation all year?
Would dining out at a restaurant be as alluring if I could eat out at one every night of the week?
There was a time in my life when I could answer questions like this. It was a time when I had plenty of money to go do what I wanted. I did take vacations week in and week out. I went out to many different restaurants daily. And I grew bored. I no longer was excited about anything because nothing ever changed. Today I can’t afford to live a life like that and I’m grateful to God for that. I enjoy when I’m able to dine out a restaurant now. I am excited to take my once a year vacation. My appreciating these things comes from not having them all the time just like the seasons.
As much as I may not like the cold of the winters, and as much as I like the hot and steamy summers, I truly love to see the seasons change between them.
Seeing flowers pop out of the moist ground.
Hearing that first thunderstorm pierce the sky.
Watching the grass become greener and greener.
Smelling the first lawn being cut.
Spring then turns into Summer.
Jumping into a bluish cold pool on a hot and steamy day.
Eating that icy popsicle while melting all over the hands.
Playing a game of mini-golf getting a hole in one.
Sitting on a sandy beach while hearing the lull of the ocean.
Summer then becomes Fall.
Listening to the leaves rustle as a breeze whisks on through.
Staring at their dazzling colors as they drop one by one.
Blowing cold rings of air when the temperature begins to dip.
Eating a bowl of oatmeal trying to soothe the cold away.
Fall then turns into Winter.
Catching a flake of snow on the tongue as gravity brings them down.
Making snowballs when enough has fallen to throw at a friend.
Building that first snowman to proudly put it on display.
Drinking a cut of hot chocolate in front of that crackling fire.
Winter then becomes Spring again.
Remembering why I love the change in everything.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
