Winter

I recall moments during summer when I thought to myself "winter is still months away," for winter felt somewhat scary. When all of the trees are green, when the weather is warm -- but not too warm -- and when the flowers are in full bloom, the world feels different. Summer is the season of activity; liveliness. Leaves have grown to maturity and are thriving.

Autumn comes, tapping us on the shoulder. Leaves fall off trees, changing colours. Reds, yellows, browns. You can look out at a row of trees and see many different colours. Some trees have vivid red leaves toward the end of autumn, a colour you can capture only for a week or two. This is not unlike the pink blossom on trees in spring; delightful, but short lived.

Then winter comes. The eaves are gone, a memory. I wonder "where did they go?" It can feel like one day the leaves were here and the next they are not. Coldness envelops the atmosphere. We can see our breath. We may see snow; how delightful that is. But there is ice: a danger. If only ice did not lie on the ground in winter.

Winter is now here.

I lament the summer, but now I am remembering the beauties that come with winter.

I was on a train earlier. The farther I travelled, the more snow I saw. Hills coated in snow. Looking out the window, it was almost as if the world had taken on a greyscale tone. There was some colour -- the inside of the train, some green emerging, as well as the colour of signs, cars. But outside, it was grey. Snow covered trees, fields. Rocks. Roads.

Being outside when snow falls is wonderful, for snow is rare on the scale of a year and I am able to experience it. To see and feel the snow fall.

Seeing people play in the snow -- making snowballs -- brings to mind that winter, like all seasons, only comes around once a year.

There is a beauty in snow-covered trees, just as there is in trees covered in luscious, green leaves.

I have fond memories of the mornings in winter when it is cold outside but the sky is almost entirely clear. Those days, despite the cold, fill me with a certain warmness.

I am starting to grow to enjoy winter. The cold and ice I could do without, but I cannot forget that winter brings about its own beauty. There are many moments of joy to be made.

This is my entry for the December 2023 IndieWeb Carnival. Thank you for hosting, Jo!