I love winter! Don't get me wrong, sometimes I hate the snow disrupting plans, but when it happens, things just work out how they need to, and that often means getting much needed rest. Snow day rhythms are slower and teach us to notice.
This weekend was a snowy one, and my Saturday was spent hunkering down in my cozy home as I cooked and cleaned. We were supposed to be having friends over, but with the slippery roads they couldn't make it. I had a massive crock-pot of chicken tortilla soup already made and had an impulsive thought - "Let's ask the neighbors!" Luis quickly said, "yes!" We had been wanting to get together with our next door neighbors for some time, but it hadn't worked out yet in the several months we have lived in our home.
Quickly, I bundled up in my coat and boots and tread carefully over the icy sidewalk and steps to their house. Instantly, Kendra said, "Yes! You guys can come here!" Their kids were as excited as we were. We made plans for 5ish and I went back to our home.
Around 5ish, Luis and I hauled soup and fixings over to their home and we were greeted with hand-drawn cards, cheers, and wonderful hospitality. It was the perfect evening of games, get-to-know you conversations, and blends of culture. Luis and I being a Dominican-American couple and our friends being an Indonesian-American couple made for lots of fun and interesting cultural differences.
It didn't look like how the evening was planned. Even though we were disappointed we had to reschedule our original plans, the spontaneous ones worked out exactly how they needed to.
My pappy always said a funny weather ditty that said, "Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather, whatever the weather, Whether we like it or not."
Mary Oliver has some delightful winter poems -
"Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
That one could easily imagine
its reason for being was
nothing more
than prettiness."
Or one of my favorites by her - "Starlings in Winter"
"Chunky and noisy,
but with stars in their black feathers,
they spring from the telephone wire
and instantly
they are acrobats
in the freezing wind.
And now, in the theater of air,
they swing over buildings,
dipping and rising;
they float like one stippled star
that opens,
becomes for a moment fragmented,
then closes again;
and you watch
and you try
but you simply can’t imagine
how they do it
with no articulated instruction, no pause,
only the silent confirmation
that they are this notable thing,
this wheel of many parts, that can rise and spin
over and over again,
full of gorgeous life.
Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,
even in the leafless winter,
even in the ashy city.
I am thinking now
of grief, and of getting past it;
I feel my boots
trying to leave the ground,
I feel my heart
pumping hard. I want
to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings."
That's how I feel about winter and snow days - lean into the rhythms. Be slow. Take naps under soft blankets. Create art or journal. Clean the house. Cook warm foods. Celebrate with friends and family. Make hot chocolate for the neighbor kids.
It's only January, so we have a lot of winter to go. Let's practice releasing and relaxing in that which we cannot change. Look at the beauty of snow. Figuring out our winter rhythms one snowstorm at a time.
What are some of your favorite things about winter (Even if you hate winter and are somewhat reluctant to enjoy or appreciate it in any form..)?
This weekend was a snowy one, and my Saturday was spent hunkering down in my cozy home as I cooked and cleaned. We were supposed to be having friends over, but with the slippery roads they couldn't make it. I had a massive crock-pot of chicken tortilla soup already made and had an impulsive thought - "Let's ask the neighbors!" Luis quickly said, "yes!" We had been wanting to get together with our next door neighbors for some time, but it hadn't worked out yet in the several months we have lived in our home.
Quickly, I bundled up in my coat and boots and tread carefully over the icy sidewalk and steps to their house. Instantly, Kendra said, "Yes! You guys can come here!" Their kids were as excited as we were. We made plans for 5ish and I went back to our home.
Around 5ish, Luis and I hauled soup and fixings over to their home and we were greeted with hand-drawn cards, cheers, and wonderful hospitality. It was the perfect evening of games, get-to-know you conversations, and blends of culture. Luis and I being a Dominican-American couple and our friends being an Indonesian-American couple made for lots of fun and interesting cultural differences.
It didn't look like how the evening was planned. Even though we were disappointed we had to reschedule our original plans, the spontaneous ones worked out exactly how they needed to.
My pappy always said a funny weather ditty that said, "Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather, whatever the weather, Whether we like it or not."
Mary Oliver has some delightful winter poems -
"Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
That one could easily imagine
its reason for being was
nothing more
than prettiness."
Or one of my favorites by her - "Starlings in Winter"
"Chunky and noisy,
but with stars in their black feathers,
they spring from the telephone wire
and instantly
they are acrobats
in the freezing wind.
And now, in the theater of air,
they swing over buildings,
dipping and rising;
they float like one stippled star
that opens,
becomes for a moment fragmented,
then closes again;
and you watch
and you try
but you simply can’t imagine
how they do it
with no articulated instruction, no pause,
only the silent confirmation
that they are this notable thing,
this wheel of many parts, that can rise and spin
over and over again,
full of gorgeous life.
Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,
even in the leafless winter,
even in the ashy city.
I am thinking now
of grief, and of getting past it;
I feel my boots
trying to leave the ground,
I feel my heart
pumping hard. I want
to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings."
That's how I feel about winter and snow days - lean into the rhythms. Be slow. Take naps under soft blankets. Create art or journal. Clean the house. Cook warm foods. Celebrate with friends and family. Make hot chocolate for the neighbor kids.
It's only January, so we have a lot of winter to go. Let's practice releasing and relaxing in that which we cannot change. Look at the beauty of snow. Figuring out our winter rhythms one snowstorm at a time.
What are some of your favorite things about winter (Even if you hate winter and are somewhat reluctant to enjoy or appreciate it in any form..)?
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