Sunday, January 03, 2021
Sunday Reflection: Winter
In Minnesota, winter is a spiritual season, as necessary to the people here as migrating is for birds. If it isn't cold in January, people sense that something is just off.
The cold is important to the world around us here. If it doesn't get well below zero several times in the winter, invasive bugs aren't killed off-- the cold literally keeps bad things at bay.
And for the people, there is a kind of purification, too. I live in a neighborhood of walkers-- there almost always are people walking by my house, which is on a corner. In the winter, as snow piles up and the street is often covered with white, there are people out there walking, in about the same numbers. Some have dogs, but most do not. Sometimes there will be a bunch of kids, girls or boys, with hockey sticks and skates heading for the rink in the park two blocks down. They are the same kids who pass by with fishing poles in the summer.
There is something wonderful about coming out of the cold to a warm place. Coffeeshops here often have fireplaces, and the people come in, shake out their boots, get a cup, and sit by the fire. It's kind of perfect.
In March, of course, it has gotten a little old, but that is part of our cycle, too. We want the change, and then it comes-- the longer days, the snow's disappearance, the return of the lakes.
It's a good world to be in, isn't it?
