Tag Archives: winter
It takes courage
“It takes courage to be crocus-minded…Highly irregular. Knifing through hard-frozen ground and snow, sticking their necks out, because they believe in Spring and have something personal and emphatic to say about it.” — Jo Sorley Deciding to have faith and hope isn’t always easy, but it is a decision, and one that comes more naturally …
Repainting the landscape
“Nature has many scenes to exhibit, and constantly draws a curtain over this part or that. She is constantly repainting the landscape and all surfaces, dressing up some scene for our entertainment. Lately we had a leafy wilderness; now bare twigs begin to prevail, and soon she will surprise us with a mantle of snow. …
Places in our hearts
“The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.” — Gertrude S. Wister When we first moved to Virginia, I was delighted that the home we bought featured several camellias along the back fence. They’ve grown impressively large, and since they bloom in winter, …
We need quiet
“Others inspire us, information feeds us, practice improves our performance, but we need quiet time to figure things out, to emerge with new discoveries, to unearth original answers.” ― Ester Buchholz Of all the seasons, winter seems most linked with quiet; short days, long nights, the silence of snowfall and the calming blank canvas of …
A white quilt
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” ― Lewis Carroll Snow can seem brutal when we have to shovel it, …
Divine pleasures
“Surely everyone is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintry fireside; candles at four o’clock, warm hearthrugs, tea, a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whilst the wind and rain are raging audibly without.” ― Thomas De Quincey Before Jeff’s surgery in November, when he was disappointed …
The diamond-frosted clasp
“December, the diamond-frosted clasp linking twelve jeweled months to yet another year.” — Phyllis Nicholson While most of us associate December with the holiday festivities, there is also the winding down of the calendar year, and a sense of wonder about how fast the months flew by, whether we were having fun or not. I …
Autumn asks
“Autumn asks that we prepare for the future —that we be wise in the ways of garnering and keeping. But it also asks that we learn to let go—to acknowledge the beauty of sparseness.” — Bonaro W. Overstreet Maybe autumn has such widespread appeal because it embodies the continual dilemma facing all of us, almost …
Bright and intense and beautiful
“Fall colors are funny. They’re so bright and intense and beautiful. It’s like nature is trying to fill you up with color, to saturate you so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted and dreary.” ― Siobhan Vivian That’s what I do on my walks; stockpile the colors and images and cool, smoke-scented …
Something is afoot
“It is a bright and chill early spring day. The air is crisp but the earth is insistent…The wind is stiff and needling. It still feels like winter, but spring itself is positive and determined. Something is afoot, and it is festive and uncontrollable and undeniable.” — Julia Cameron I’ve heard more than a little …
There will be times
“Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.” — Anton Chekhov Even when the trees appear to be bare, there is a lot happening underground. A gardener once explained to me that fall is the best …
Firesides on winter evenings
“The smell of that buttered toast simply talked to Toad, and with no uncertain voice; talked of warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cozy parlor firesides on winter evenings, when one’s ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender; of the purring of contented cats, and the twitter of …
Permit yourself the luxury
“Winter is the time of promise because there is so little to do – or because you can now and then permit yourself the luxury of thinking so.” — Stanley Crawford Each year, I enter January with delusions about how much I will get done — I will clean out my closets, sort through old …
Something of the marvelous
“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” — Aristotle I’m not a cold weather person, but I love the beauty of snowy landscapes. From the lacy brilliance of an ice-covered branch catching sunlight, to the stark magnificence of Alaska’s glaciers, frozen water takes an endless variety of forms, each a singular masterpiece.
January beckons
“January, the month of new beginnings and cherished memories, beckons. Come, let winter weave her wondrous spell: cold, crisp, woolen-muffler days, long dark evenings of savory suppers, lively conversations, or solitary joys. Outside the temperature drops as the snow falls softly. All of nature is at peace. We should be, too. Draw hearthside. This is …
Silence so deep
“You wake up on a winter morning and pull up the shade, and what lay there the evening before is no longer there–the sodden gray yard, the dog droppings, the tire tracks in the frozen mud, the broken lawn chair you forgot to take in last fall. All this has disappeared overnight, and what you …
Defeat Despair 