February Wonder

Can you believe that it's February already?  Sometimes it feels like I just celebrated Christmas and my company left to go return to their homes.  Do you like February?  I do!  I like this month so much.  I like witnessing the return of light and hearing the birds, yes the birds singing again in the morning. They think maybe it's Spring.  Birds are positive thinkers in the world.

I like the shortness of February, a tiny bridge of time between January and March.  I've been walking with Frodo when the weather permits and while everything is brown, cold, cloudy and gray, the walk feels refreshing and hopeful of time marching on.

My mother hated February.   During this month she would declare she had "the winter pissies" and I would chuckle.  She never liked being cold.  She would sit in her rocking chair bundled up in a fluffy robe and fluffy slippers cursing the winter days.

More than likely, my extreme enthusiasm for winter and chilliness made her all the more disgruntled about the state of affairs with the weather.  Maybe in my immaturity I egged her on.  I flaunted the wonderfulness of snow, cold and wind. During February she didn't have a sense of humor and that inspired me to declare winter love all the more.

Many winter haters would say to me in my youth "you don't have to drive in bad weather" well guess what? I'm an adult now and I don't mind driving in bad weather.  When we lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I drove every single day on snowy icy roads in the winter because that was a way of life. Keep in mind though that the whole community had some excellent winter driving skills.

So here I stand, a betrayer of summer loving, hoping you will give me this opportunity to bask in the glory of winter.  All too soon, spring will be here then summer.  The best part of having four seasons is everyone has a favorite and everyone gets to enjoy those months when they roll in.

Many years ago I made the decision to try to see beauty every day and to witness something wonderful in nature.  I have a difficult time enjoying Summer because my arthritis is at it's worse.  My gratitude list helps me tally those moments no matter what season I am experiencing.

I don't know why my cactus blooms, it likes the window it sits by I guess.

Happy February everyone, go out and witness something beautiful!!