Winter's Coming

I like Winter, no, I love Winter.  It's my second favorite season. Autumn is my first. It's over now, though--autumn. It really is, even though, according to our calendar, winter does not officially start for a few more weeks — it's snowing. Oh yes, it is. So in my own little world, that means Winter is coming.

My husband has a theory as to why I love Winter so much. He thinks it's because I like to cocoon. That's what he calls it--cocooning. I don't think that's a real word, but that's never stopped me before--I kind of like my made-up words. I also like cocooning.

Yes, I believe that I do make a cocoon of sorts. I love sitting with my books, laptop, and iPad. I love reading by the fire, writing, and thinking. I love sitting with my dog, praying and worshiping. It seems to me that there is more time for that--in the Winter.

The winters here are usually bright and sunny; very few days are dreary.  With that sunshine comes hope, and with that hope, a gratefulness pours from my heart.  I look outside and see the snow glistening, and I feel happy and safe. And it's not as though I don't venture out, because I do. I put on my heavy Winter paraphernalia and head out. Bundled up--coat, gloves, boots, and scarves, out I go, into the sunshine, into the brisk cold, into the world that God made.

However, right now, as I sit with my legs curled beneath me, laptop balanced precariously on my thighs, there is a quietness to the outdoors, a softness that isn't there when the snow melts. The only sounds I can hear right now are the noises that my house makes--just the humming of my refrigerator, really. Everything else is so quiet. I can think this way: my laptop, the fire going, the dog sleeping, and I know that all is well within my small world.

Think about it for just a moment, if it were spring or summer, I would want to be walking outside, doing something other than writing. I would not be in this contemplative state of mind. I would be looking at flowers and wildlife. And while there is nothing wrong with that--I do know that I wouldn't be writing. And writing has become a very important part of my life. It's a time where I can be real, I can be me, I can talk without fear of being judged. If you don't like what I write, you won't read it. Believe me, that thought frees me up to write about any little thing that pops into my brain.

What I have noticed about myself over the past few years is that in the winter months, I am inclined to write more, ponder more, and reflect more on life — more specifically, my life.  As the year comes to an end, I become more in tune with my circumstances. In fact, what I notice is that I take the time. That's it. I'm not distracted by warm sunny weather and all that it holds. I tend to settle in for a few short months and once again become a very deep thinker. And then, as each thought surfaces, I share it, kind of like small pieces of candy.

Yes, Winter's coming, and I am glad. I will settle in. I will write more. I will appreciate all that is around me, because Winter's coming.