Winters Magic

Winter comes with its own type of magic.

For some folks, Winter is a time for family and creativity. The beginning of winter brings a holiday season filled with cooking, decorating, family and fun. It becomes a precursor to a long awaited quiet time of year to rest and perhaps plan for the coming spring. Sitting by a fire reading a book or knitting while the man of the house works on whittling the next little project of amazing craftsmanship. Although this may be a scene from days gone past, most of us hold dear the notion we can still create in our hearts and minds what our spirit longs for.

For others, winter is a time of human durability. A time for struggles and challenges brought with severe weather and shortage of food and warmth coupled with isolation. A true test of physical and mental strength.

In any case it creates a different kind of life that is a magic of its own.
Snow and ice, and the stillness winter makes, opens the mind to a less complicated and more primal way of living. Sure we have our jobs and same old daily routines but winter alters them enough to get us to pay attention. Our driveways need to be cleared. Our car's engines need to be warmed before we can drive anywhere. We spend just as much time looking for our gloves as we do our car keys. When we see someone walking, the first thing we think is "does that person have shelter?". It is a time when we are forced to consider how nature really is.


Blue are the nights lit by stars reflecting on the calm stillness of snow.
I hear the soft footing of a deer foraging for the last bit of grass as it keeps moving so its blood wont freeze in the dead of night.
I can hear the ice crackle as the sun breaks late in the morning. The cardinals chirping in the pines as the raven calls out good morning. The smell of burning wood fills my mind with memories of my childhood when I spent hours building snowmen and drinking hot chocolate.
What a joy this time of year can be if we only take the time to live with it and not fight against it.