Winter's Here!

Good Solstice to You!

“In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.”

William Blake

Welcome to Winter. Today in Birmingham it is bleak, gray, rainy and about 70 degrees. We're expecting twisters later—a joy of the season here in tornado alley. I know that many of you are already knee deep in snow and beginning the long season of shoveling. Bless your hearts.

Winter is a test of endurance for some of us—those who do not love winter sports or winter driving. For some of us, however, winter is the best of all seasons because we love the cold, know how to dress for it, and are intolerant of summer heat. I fall into the former camp. Having grown up in the snowy mountains of North Carolina, I can do without it for the rest of my life.

I do have some fond memories of making snow-cream and sledding until our lips turned blue. Of fires in the fireplace hung around with wet coats and hats and mittens. I recall snowball fights and stocking caps encrusted with ice from making snow-angels. I remember one winter in Durham, when an ice storm took every single branch off a Sweet Gum tree in our back yard. They cracked like a rifle shot and came crashing down one by one. When it was over, there was a three-story stump where a tree used to be. I remember being caught out in a sudden snow storm when I was a teenager, and sliding off the road in my daddy's giant Pontiac. I abandoned it, and clomped home in my loafers through fifteen inches of wetness.

This is what Winter is for—for telling stories, and collecting memories, for sharing tales around a fire, and enjoying the company of folks who know you well, and love you anyway. Have a happy Winter Solstice today. Send me some of your best snow stories.

                                    In the Spirit,

                                        Jane