Monday, January 30, 2012

Dear Winter




Dear Winter,

      Last June I wrote a love letter to Summertime.  Then, in October, I wrote a letter to your sister Fall.   Surely, you remember Summertime and Fall?  Summertime is young and flighty and I love her dearly. Fall is a bit more tired but she has some really wise beauty about her.  You, Winter, are slow to reveal yourself to me or perhaps it is that I am I slow to see you?  Either way, I can see you now.

       The thing is, dear Winter, you are cold.  When you first send Fall on her way, you are bright, colorful, full of spirit and warmth and good cheer. But then something changes you. You turn more icy and edgy,  kinda cranky and, yes, cold.  In the interest of full disclosure, you need to know that for years - and I do mean years - the piece of you that was January was the darkest month of my year.  I counted with great impatience the days until the January piece would disappear and then I actively pushed February so she would move along faster.  I wanted to banish you, Winter,  from the planet.



You hang out in the Laguna with such tenacity.





                     And you can be found in cool patterns in the sand on the weather beaten shore.




You make interesting patterens in the dusting of snow too.



      I can't say that things have improved THAT much but I can say that I am appreciating your stark beauty more.  I can appreciate the simplicity that you are.  Your sister seasons are all full of bright, luscious, and distracting colors. Your colors can be distracting but they distract in a more startling sort of way.  Perhaps there is more contrast in your days or maybe I have learned to keep my eyes way wide open in order to see the simple beauty.  It is there. Now I know that.















     So here's the deal.  I will keep my eyes open to you because you do surprise me sometimes.  And you promise me that, from time to time, you will wow me with your silent cold beauty.  But don't get your feelings hurt when I start pining for Spring.  She has always been close to my heart and I miss her so much.




16 comments:

  1. One of the most beautiful love letters to Winter I have ever read. That's the thing about love, though. It has that edge of dread in it.

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    1. Thank you! I love the "edge of dread" - there's a poem there.

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  2. I cannot wait to write spring a love letter! you did make me think a little more highly of winter, though :)

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    1. Writing love letters to inanimate objects like seasons is so much fun! Not unlike your love letter to the weekend the other day!

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  3. Great idea - might have to try this sometime! Beautiful.

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    1. Oh, I can't wait to see a love letter to a season that you might write!

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  4. Beautifully written, and breathtaking photography. The one of the pattern in the sand that looks like trees is remarkable.
    I am glad to be almost out of January. Our winter has not been cold, but the shortness of the daylight is what saps me more than cold. Each day the stretch of light gets a bit longer, and for that, I am grateful.
    So glad to have found your blog-- when I see the fountain at the head of your blog, my blood pressure drops measurably!

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  5. Such a unique winter this year. I only fired up the big stove a half-dozen times these two months, after burning four cord by the end of December ago. I agree with Melanie that your photos, as always, are stunning. You will have to include a wing in your art gallery for your photos, alongside your paintings.

    Btw, there are four above it and four below it, but what is "it?"

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    1. Well, Mark, there are four above me and four below me, so I guess I am it..... but I think you are talking about the photos - that is just a shadow of some wires on the snow .....

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  6. Love the photos as always. I'm a big fan of the changing of seasons--always excited about the beginning of what's next, but winter generally wears out her welcome much sooner than the rest. (Though a hot and humid summer is not the best of house guests either.) This year has been strange here, too--much more rain than snow. No extended periods of real cold--it has been down to zero only once or twice and always back up into the thirties or forties a day or so later. It has me a little depressed from missing snow and a little panicked about the acceleration of climate change. Such strange times in which we live--when a mild winter could just be a statistical fluke or it could signal the end of the world. ;)

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    1. I have never had the pleasure of having a hot and humid summer as a house guest... from time to time, HOT summer has overstayed her welcome but usually she is only here long enough to make me want to see her more.

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  7. I can't believe it is finally January 31. I would look at my calendar every day this month and think, it can't still be January.
    Our winter has been mild so far. It's like waiting for the other shoe to drop.
    You captured Ms. (or is it Mr.)Winter's true colors beautifully in your photos.

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    1. Thank you - I have a tough seeing anything good in winter except for her stark beauty. Perhaps if I were not working full time, I would see her differently.

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  8. You have a lovely eye.
    Those photographs are stunning.
    Yes, I suppose winter does get a bad rap for the most part... the barrenness, the loss of light can leave one feeling desolate... but you do a wonderful job of making us see its beauty.

    I live in San Francisco.
    Our winter has been unseasonably dry & sunny, though not quite warm
    I can already feel the days getting longer here & am thankful.
    Thanks to Periphery for recommending your blog.

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    1. Hey, Lorie, thanks for stopping by! i just live up north from you - Sonoma County! Al of the above photos were taken in Sonoma County (except for the dusting of snow - we rarely see the white in my hometown). Winter does get a bad rap but, hey, it's a dark and cold time. I, too, am seeing the slightly longer days and for that I am grateful. Letter to spring coming in another couple of months!

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