Winter Solstice

Welcome Winter – photo courtesty of bcg connect.
https://www.bcgconnect.com/tis-the-season-to-show-gratitude/

Winter has officially arrived as of today and despite a profound appreciation for all seasons, this is the one I favor least.

The stark beauty of the winter landscape notwithstanding, the cold, the snow, the shoveling and the long hours of darkness dictate an excessive amount of time spent indoors. I know many love the slopes and look forward to winter all year long. I am not one of them.

But as I said, I do have a profound appreciation for the season. One season brings forth the next and nowhere is that more evident than in the case of winter where our mountain snows feed our streams for the coming spring and summer. So while I don’t love the cold and snow I welcome both and pray we get a bunch between now and spring.

So as we embark on winter’s gloom and prepare with hope for extended periods of cold and snow in the months ahead, the bright side of this, the shortest day and longest night of the year, is that starting tomorrow the days begin to get longer. That little bit of extra light is barely noticeable at first but as winter drags along we’ll begin to take notice as we’re often blessed with glorious evening skies as we reach mid-winter and begin to anticipate spring which is merely 89 days away.

So get out and enjoy the snow and cold if that’s your thing or hunker down and wait it out. Either way, it won’t be long and the 2022 season will be upon us with winter’s cold giving way to searing spring sun, melting winter snows, awakening dormant trees and vegetation and bringing forth the promise of long summer days ahead.