Welcome Back Winter, Once Again

     For those who have just read the title and are wondering if my calendar is still stuck in December, don't worry, I know that winter is just about to come to a close. As most of you living around the MD/DC area know, this particular winter has been a pretty powerful one. We've had the most snowfall since 4 years ago, had temperatures nearly at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and even tossed around the new phrase "polar vortex". In the midst of all this frigid weather and the closing of countless schools and governments, I have once again found a sense of joy and peace. This post is different from usual because instead of getting into a deep theological topic or a major thought, I'm writing about my love for winter and why I believe it is the most powerful yet peaceful of all the seasons.

     Winter is a season unlike any other. As warm blooded humans, our natural response is to try and hide from the cold, sheltering ourselves from it's harmful effects. This is fine, but if you're like me, you've come to embrace the cold and soak it in, allowing it's chill to penetrate your body to the point where it's all you can think about. One of the main reasons I love this kind of feeling is because of how alert it can make you. For me, the biting nature of the frozen air puts a feeling of energy into me that is hard to beat. Those reading this most likely know of the humidity that comes with the summer heat in this region and for me, that sucks the life out of me because when you're working outdoors you're simply bathed in it. But, in the winter, the air is crisp and sharp with a penetrating force that can cool you down from outside in. The temperature isn't the only invigorating part of the winter air though. While all seasons have a different scent, the one I love the most is the smell of winter, especially when a snow storm is coming.

     Another major reason that I love the winter is because of my upbringing and all the outdoor work that usually involved. For those that don't know, I grew up working outdoors with my father, helping him feed, weed, water, and sell the ever growing amount of plants he has in the fields around our house. This made the busiest times of year the ones that were warm and good times for planting. In the winter though, this all changed. Plants were covered up before the winter hit, nothing needed tending to, no storms would come through except those bringing a gentle snowfall, and everything slowed down to the point where I could enjoy some time with my dad doing something other than working. The start of winter marked a time of rest and fun as my dad would tow my sister and I around on a metal saucer behind his tractor in the snow. The snowball fights, the forts and snowmen that we built, and the rides down my grandparents hill stand as some of my favorite times with my sister growing up.

     Above all, my main reason for loving winter is the pure beauty it brings, wrapped together with a sheer bone-chilling power. It's well known that the odds of having two identical snowflakes are almost zero, with each flake having it's own majestic beauty. Put a large amount of these flakes together and you create a pure white blanket that covers all it touches, hiding imperfections and creating a frozen layer that is perfectly smooth. This makes me hesitant to touch it, knowing I could never make it as immaculate as it naturally is. Beyond just the snow, the true power comes from ice since even a thin coating can cause most things to shut down. When ice becomes thick though, everything becomes encased in it's beauty, forced to utterly halt. The raw capability to cause a crippling standstill while simultaneously creating total silence and peace is awe inspiring. Winter weather stands as a unique symbol, displaying nature's elegance until we clear the roads and shovel our paths, disrupting the natural for the sake of our daily needs and lifestyles. If you've already seen or are planning on seeing the recent Disney movie Frozen, you can get a sense of what I've written about in regards to beauty when you see Elsa singing Let It Go and creating her incredible ice castle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEJ566EnNgM). One of my favorite places to be is outside overnight laying in the snow somewhere with it continuing to fall around me, with no cars racing to get anywhere, no sun melting the snow away, no bugs chirping along, just pure white covering me as I lay in total silence.

     I hope that I've been able to summarize why I believe winter is the best of the seasons. My favorite color, blue, is often associated with winter and cold and I say let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyway. I fully acknowledge that you can't do as much in it and it can force people to stay indoors while taking a day off work, but I feel like we need to slow down every now and then in our evermore busy lives. Although this winter is just about done, I invite you to enjoy what's left and remember your favorite childhood memories playing in the snow. As for me, I'll be enjoying the rest of the seasons as well, but always looking forwards toward December 21st when I'll be welcoming back winter, once again.