Many people feel that the cooler weather and shorter days are something we must suffer through, or at the very least tolerate and endure, while we await the warmth of spring once again. I celebrate this season, as I celebrate the coming of spring and summer. Every season brings its own magic. Fall and winter are coming. Let’s be thankful.
I’ve already started digging into our attic storage space, going through boxes looking for sweaters, blankets, coats, gloves, and boots. Soon, it will be time to cozy up on the sofa under blankets and throws, while we watch the snow fall. We’ll drink hot cocoa while it’s falling and throw snowballs at each other afterward when we are trying to dig out. And hopefully we can dig out before dark, so we can get some sledding in if the roads will permit us to get to the bigger hills. If not, we’ll watch movies, read, play board games, bake, make a hearty stew.
I smell cinnamon and nutmeg. Do you? Those smells delight me.
The days are shorter in the fall and winter and yet, because I find myself indoors for more hours of the day most days, the time I can spend reading and writing increases. I’m already excited about catching up on long-overdue correspondence. I love to send boxes of goodies to friends during the winter months. There’s nothing better than a goody box filled with analog treats to play in on a snowy day. And I write some of my best lists in the winter. The winters are good for list making and daydreaming. My imagination provides me such freedom, even if the weather does not. I drink a hot cup of coffee in my biggest mug, while I slowly fill my fountain pen with ink.
I love brown ink when the weather is cool. It looks lovely on ivory colored paper.
Though I find myself inside more in the winter, I do find that proper clothing is often the only thing standing in the way of enjoying a winter stroll or adventure, strolls and adventures that feed the mind and imagination. As long as our bodies are warm and dry, we are ready to explore the world that lays out before us. New York City in autumn and winter are beautiful. The shops and parks take on a different energy, an energy that warms the soul. When you duck in from the cold and enter a shop, a bell tinkles. While rubbing your hands together for warmth, there are warm smiles to greet you. Is it just me or does winter sound different?
The crackling of branches sounds different in the crisp winter air. The sounds make me feel so alive.
And then there is poetry. I always think the best time to tackle it, embrace it, dance with it, is when it’s chillier outside. Perhaps we are sharpest then. Minds crisp like the air. Here’s one that is simple at first, but then as you read it, you find beautiful intricacies, another layer. There’s always something more. Just as there’s more to fall and winter than the looking forward to spring and summer.
Nature, Poem 28. Autumn.
The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on
by Emily Dickinson
Put a trinket on your autumn and winter. Make them beautiful, empowered you.
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