“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” -Hal Borland
A midwestern winter is hard to shake off. Even for those that enjoy it, snow in April is overkill. I read somewhere that winter is a season for recovery and preparation. I feel that way too, in the beginning, when the season starts to turn. When the days get a little shorter and the air crisp. It is a season that makes you want to stay home, make chicken soup and cuddle under a blanket with a book. And that’s great, for a minute. But life does go on. You still have to get up every day and go to work and walk the dog. You still have to do all those every day life things. Except now to do those things under a layer of snow and ice, with an unrelenting wind that chafes your skin and finds its way through every crack. It just seems to add a layer of struggle that can sometimes be the tipping point in an already overwhelmed life.
Don’t get me wrong, winter can be beautiful. Snow falling lightly is glitter in the air. Sunlight shimmers gold on tree branches after an ice storm. The trick is having the ability to hang on those singular moments, to let them sustain you until the end. It has never been that easy for me. But every year, when I think I can’t take it anymore winter takes its leave and I breathe a sigh of relief at another winter won. And I am grateful for every second of bare feet in the grass and warm sun on my skin.