WINTER

My mother and I were out putting up Christmas lights the other day so that the day after Thanksgiving I would be ready to flip the switch and begin one of my favorite times of year.

It’s my favorite time of year for a lot of reasons. People are kinder and it become the season of “we” and not “me.” I love that. I also live for the snow and the cold. When it is cold, we slow down a little and stay indoors with our families a little more. When it snows and everything is covered it creates such an overwhelming sense of peace making it a perfect time for contemplation. We need that.

For some reason winter is a season people dread; but I find it magical. It fills me with hope that the world is truly a better place and that we as people have more potential than we realize.

All of this inspired by hanging twinkly little lights throughout my landscape.

I have an immense yew hedge that runs the length of our front foundation. It is the main candidate for Christmas Cheer, however I also have a five foot Dr. Merrill Magnolia next to our deck that gets a little douse as well.

That little tree is a pet of mine. You see one day, probably fifteen years down the road, it will reach twenty feet tall. It will have outgrown lights at that point. That occurs to me every time I look at it, especially as I’m draping strands of lights trying very carefully to disturb its fuzzy little flower buds. But for now, it is my little tree. Sparkling in the night, curled up for the winter, but already showing signs of hope for a floriferous spring!