Monday, January 2, 2012

the gift

Winter is not my favorite time of year.

No secret here. When I was working the trades, winter was that time when things are frozen or muddy, when the jobs were further and colder and harder and slower. I just did not like winter.

Retirement has helped a little. If it is snowy or muddy I can stay inside, mostly.

This is not a particularly cold winter. We have not gotten even close to zero. It's 28 outside now at 6 in the morning. Our aluminum home, with it's single pane windows and less than perfect insulation (an RV with "perfect" insulation would not be very big inside!), is a bit chilly on cold mornings.

I miss the wood stove we would snuggle up to. I never did mind the rhythm of bringing wood in and taking ashes out. It was the fabric of my winter life. It was good that our house was smallish and well insulated, so it did not take a huge amount of firewood.

Last week we had a day of sun when the temps were in the low 50's and I was transformed. My mind shed (temporarily) these dark thoughts of cold and blossomed with thoughts of spring and sunshine, maybe even a bit of good old fashioned perspiration!

That warm weather (it was late December, after all) was a gift to remind me of the joy of spring and summer.

Thank you Gift Giver.

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