As the leaves start turning, I think of childhood memories, of jumping into a pile and feeling the sensation of them against my body before getting my ass whupped by Pa for “****ing up the raking” he just did. This time of year is one to be enjoyed, but always in the back of my mind is the thought that the weather will get much more severe in the months to come.
My favorite aspect of winter is the stillness and whiteness that surrounds one after a storm.
You can actually hear yourself think and though you may wish it was 50 degrees warmer, you learn to accept it, knowing this is part of Earth’s cycle. It’s sometimes hard to believe I’ve lived through three dozen winters. That is nothing to sneeze at, well, it probably is as many of us come down with colds during this time of year, but thankfully, there’s Christmas and New Years to keep us festive.
It always feels good getting home on a cold winter’s night, taking a bath, reading a rag, and letting the warm water rejuvenate me. Sometimes I'll put my head underwater and pretend to be struggling before my wife comes in and tells me to knock it off. Then I put my robe on and lay on the bed for a spell, happy to be in a warm home on a cold night.
Even though it seems mighty far off in mid-January, spring does come. You start hearing birds again and getting bird shit on your car. Flowers start blooming and people start wearing shorts before they should. The days grow longer and the hardships of winter are quickly forgotten. Spring may be the favorite season of fair-weather people since not only is the weather much more mild than the prior one, but they also have the warmest season, summer, to look forward to.
I have to admit that summer usually lives up to the hype. There’s work to be done in the yard, but it’s also nice to be able to have the windows open, to watch Zoe run back and forth in the sprinkler, to not lock the doors at night, hoping that someone, anyone, will surprise us while we're sleeping. Life can be so very predictable sometimes.
Before you know it, it’s autumn again and I wonder how many more years I’ll see before I die, how many more decades, how many more seasons of “Prison Break”, and it’s just then that I quiet my mind, accepting that this moment is all there is, that the past exists only as memory, and the future is a not-yet-realized dream. My head starts to ache at this realization, so I take an aspirin, lay down in a fetal positon, and scream, “God, please don’t let me die in a meat grinder mishap!”
6 comments:
Fall was the best when I was growing up in MN. Winter is nice after a snowfall but then all the car exhaust and dirt ruins the perfect picture.
Down here we have the seasons but they are...well...odd.
You know its spring because all the little lizards are hanging out by the porch. The big cacti flower and it makes them look like men with hats on.
Summer, hellish heat.
Fall, end of hellish heat.
Winter, influx of snowbirds escaping winter elsewhere.
Then the lizards are back. Year by year I see the same lizards and near fall the young ones are out (this year only one new kid).
Its the same 8-10 lizards a year. I think they are Mediterranean Geckos. They eat the few bugs we have down here.
Tim, you're right. Snow quickly loses its appeal once soot and whatnot get all over it.
Thanks for sharing what the seasons are like in 'Zona. I bet the baby lizards are cute little buggers.
I am strangely warmed and disturbed by this post...both at the same time.
Bogart, that's exactly what I was going for.
I will email you a pic of our little lizards. They are welcome here as we do get a few flies and such in the spring until they show up to clean house.
That first sentence I typed sounds goofy as well.
I guess I could have said "my little lizard" and got myself banned.
Yes, Tim, you certainly have a way with words this week. :)
Thanks for the pic. My wife would wig out if she saw such creatures hanging out at our place.
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