Sliding (Or Should That Be Sledding?) Towards Winter

It’s suddenly sliding towards winter here, despite the fact that solstice is still over 3 weeks away. Today for the first time there was ice on the windshield when I got into the car to drive the kids to school and daycare. Driving down the road towards the freeway, the grass of lawns and roadsides was covered with frozen dew where the shadows had not yet lifted. The colors of the tree leaves, so flashy with their reds and yellows two weeks ago, were fading into rusts and ochres. The air had that bright, hard quality that frigid temperature combined with sunshine brings. We could see our breath in steamy wisps as we walked to the car.

I don’t mind winter so much, as long as the weather isn’t storming or flooding or otherwise threatening to disrupt our taken-for-granted routines. Every season has its pleasures and its discontents. It’s the variety that I appreciate—which is why I like these transition times, when one season is leaving and another is coming on. I get tired of the same old, same old by the time each season is nearing its end, and I look forward to the pleasures that the new one promises. (Optimist that I am, I prefer not to dwell on the discontents ahead of time if I don’t have to.) I’m just grateful to live in a climate that doesn’t go to extremes with every season change—it’s pretty balanced here.

That being said, here are a few things that I’m looking forward to in the coming months:

Holiday lights
Fires in the fireplace
Rain on the roof while I’m sleeping in a warm bed
Get togethers with family and friends for the holidays
Holiday food! (black turkey, latkes, cookies, great wine)
Vacation time (pleeeeeeeease let there be no flood this time)
The feeling of a new fresh year, bringing new beginnings
New stained glass windows
My birthday
Eli’s birthday
Longer days and the return of the light

What part of winter do *you* appreciate?