winter serenity

winter serenity
Originally uploaded by c'estbonne

An Easter sky over a January landscape--hope from the midst of the freeze.

Winter's accents offer something new to savor: the opportunity to see one's breath made tangible, frozen in the air; a palette of white with subtle earth tones of almond, moss, dove grey, and glints of glacial blue; the stark artistry of bare branches against early twilight skies; the soft comfort of fleece and wool, contrasted by chilly noses and cheeks.

But most of us tire of the cold and the short days, the slushy roads and bulky layers of clothes. As with anything, though, winter ends. Entertain a bit of patience, awareness of the natural rhythm of things, and even common sense, and we know that the turning of the seasons will come. Contrary to appearances, the Earth has not stopped its revolution around the sun, its rotation on its axis, its perpetual movement that eventually brings us around again to the next phase.

In darker times, we are as Earth's seeds, who know to wait patiently until the sun's warm signal calls us upward again.