Winter

[Author’s note:  This post was delayed by forgetfulness.  I should have posted this months earlier.  Hopefully “Spring” will come out in a few weeks and “Summer” on schedule.]

Normally Winter is no big deal here in the South.  It rarely affects us as much as it does folks in the North.  These past few Winters though have been harsher than most and we have been finding out what it is to be stuck at home waiting out the cold and wind to subside.

The season is supposed to start on the 21st of December but for most people it begins earlier.  I think probably that second week of November is when we mentally enter Winter and we don’t emerge till about late February.

The long cold season means different things to many people.  Some are depressed by the long nights and chilling winds.  Others see it as the beginning of the new year and of possibilities.  To me it’s a sort of state of limbo.  We seem to be caught between finishing the last year and planning for the next.  Plans, ideas, and life are all on hold till the days start getting longer.

Winter has meant long sessions in front of the computer writing, finding inspiration in the darkness that comes earlier and earlier each day.  Shorter and shorter days where I begin work in darkness and end work in darkness.  Somehow I don’t find it gloomy, rather I find it cozy.

This year the cold has been a blessing to my running.  I prefer it to running in the heat and it has meant that I have been able to go longer and farther than I have previously been able to.  At the beginning of the season I felt chilled at 50 degrees but by February I’m going out in shorts and t-shirt in 32 degree weather.  I will miss that as the year progresses.

This break in the year also has allowed and even encouraged my planning for the rest of the year.  As you finish projects and meet goals you find you have extra time and can look at the progress you’ve made and figure out how to build upon that in the coming year.

When you think about it in the correct way then Winter becomes a welcome respite and time to rejuvenate yourself for the days to come.