The Approaching Season

Snowflakes began to pirouette from the drained grey sky about the time I arrived home from school. Now, an hour and a half later, intermittent spits of fluffy white drift silently to the ground. It is time to bring in the pumpkins and haul out the Nativity Set; time to swap spiced apple cider for hot chocolate billowing warmly-scented steam; time to replace the Halloween candy with puffy, homemade sugar cookies. I’m ready for winter.

The appeal of “lamb’s wool scarves”, clingy sweaters, fluffy earmuffs, and thick trench-coats, cannot be denied; I feel warm ‘n’ toasty just thinking on it! Oh, and the beautiful serenity of pure white as far as the eye perceives, crimson cardinals upon a snowy branch, lopsided snow-people in front yards, and the never-ending screams of my neighbors sledding down a slope of about 3 degrees. That is winter: fun, love, innocent beauty, and desperately seeking warmth. No other season holds the same captivating power as the season of snow.

Go ahead and bring this up to me when I am bent over the hood of my mini-SUV, desperately reaching for that spot in the middle I cannot reach from either side, while snow from the roof of my car and the carpet of Heaven showers my head, and my fingers turn purple. Go ahead and remind me how much I love winter and you just might experience my boxing abilities.

In all seriousness, I love winter enough to overlook its downfalls – enough that I generally laugh off the marrow-freezing cold and soggy socks.

Best reason for loving winter? CHRISTMAS!!

So the obvious reason for loving Christmas is thinking about how the Supreme Deity decided to take on this crappy flesh and walk around a bit. But one must also remember the adorable faces on babies atop Santa’s knees, wearing Santa hats to the grocery store, and trying to figure out what to buy a man for a present. (Seriously men – you’re impossible!) Yes, to coin an old phrase, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” – at least, until next season.

Because this is the first snowfall, it all melted before reaching the ground, let alone building up. Therefore, I have a bit more time to overly-romanticize the coming snowfall before I have to walk across campus in it.