Burrrr. It's cold!

Winter Rest

“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape—the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show.”

                                                Andrew Wyeth

It is 29 degrees in Birmingham this morning—which would feel like the tropics to people in Boston today. Twenty inches of snow would render me catatonic, I'm pretty sure. Every season has its challenges. In reading quotes about winter, I found that the one thing most people like about it is that it forces us to go inside and stay there. Winter is the season that allows us time to reclaim ourselves from the constant demands of our social networks. Most people give themselves permission to stay inside and actually--you know--rest. 

My son and I were having a conversation the other day about rest—since he was supposed to do it for three weeks after the concussion. He told me that when he's doing nothing, he feels like a useless, lazy, good-for-nothing. Such is the lingering effect (some would say 'curse') of the Protestant work ethic. We must be productive in order to justify the air that we breathe, and such.

There is nothing wrong with being productive, and nothing wrong with being lazy every now and then. Today would be a good day to make hot chocolate and put together a jigsaw puzzle. Or build a fire in the fire-pit and roast marshmallows. It would be a good day to eat sandwiches and canned soup and finish reading that good book you've been sawing away at three pages at a time for weeks. It would be a perfect day to wear your pajamas all day long and feel righteous about it.

Winter is the season when all of nature rests. The trees pull in their sap, and keep themselves quiet while their energy stores replenish. Winter hides beneath it the promise of spring, and takes great pleasure in concealing even a hint of it. We could take a lesson from this; get a clue, so to speak, and rest too. It's the weekend, y'all. Kick back!

                                                   In the spirit,

                                                        Jane