Winter Blessings, Hopes and Lessons

Indeed, winter is a fickle companion. Its cold touch creeps and settles into weary bones. It crawls, hovers and lingers in every nook and crevice. As much as we prepare, there is little we can do to escape it. The intrusive nature of this force is beyond our capabilities and so we learn to live with it.

We wrap ourselves in layers made of cotton, yarn and wool. We nestle into corners and throw upon ourselves blankets to store away the heat. We nourish our bodies and our spirits with hearty soups and bread. We take our vitamins religiously in hopes of warding off infirmities. 

This seasonal friend or foe changes us, molds us into creatures craving comfort and escape. It pulls us indoors, draws us closer to the ones we love and love us back.  

Books intent on bewitching us fall from dusty shelves and once again are read. All day, the place of slumber, our beds, become caves and fortresses protecting us from brutish elements. 

We are safe.

Still on some nights the howling winds remind us of our vulnerability and the fragility of our existence. Shadows cast upon the ceiling scare away the possibility of sleep and dreaming. We lay silently, shiver and pray mightily.

When the morning comes, our feet dangle from the bed, our toes test the cold floor and we set upon the routines that get us out the front door. 

For the moment, goodbye home.

Winter is a wondrous storm of dark, light, and bitter cold. It is a test of endurance and independence, it is a reckoning of the mind, body and spirit. 

It gives and it takes.

What blessings, hopes and lessons will this winter leave behind for you to uncover? For me, it is the absolute certainty that the darkest of nights with its howling winds and frightful shadows is followed by the light of day and the promise of tomorrow. 

Did You Know? In high latitude regions like parts of Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia, the sun may not rise above the horizon at all for weeks during winter, creating a “polar night.”