A Spot of Warmth Lifts My Spirits

This week we are told the temperatures will dip quite low (although still within winter reason - is there such a phrase?).  Part of me, the part that is retired, has little problem with that forecast.  It is a rare occasion that finds me having to spend time outdoors if I don't want to be there.  No longer do I have to take students out and away from the building for a fire drill and stand there for the requisite amount of time.  Nor am I sensitive to cold like my sister-in-law who still lives in this climate.  For her I do feel sorry; it is hard for her to get warm.  But that is not the way my body works so cold weather for me is merely a fact of life in the northeast.

 

Yet, today, I was especially aware of the numerous pots and vases of budding paper whites that we have scattered around our home.  As I walked through the living room this morning, I noticed the way the sunlight (weak as it might be) picked up the lovely green of the stems and lit the rounding buds as they plump up while getting ready to burst open.  Kitchen and family room also have several almost-there plants.  Tonight the paper whites in our bedroom (no, the fragrance does not bother either of us - there is sufficient room and air circulation so it is not a problem) have gone from looking rather scrawny and floppy to standing very straight and tall with their white blossoms showing.

 

To me, this is an advantage of winter.  The more inclement it is outdoors, the more I appreciate the incidental notes and reminders of softer days and warmer sunshine.  I hope that in some corner of your home, you have something that will lift the winter blues for you, too.  If there isn't such a place, try to make one.  Pull out that small wall hanging you did with the spring colors or frame that wonderful photo you took of your garden.  Splurge on a flowering plant for your desk.  And put on that lovely, bright, and warm sweater even if it isn't this year's style or color.  Make yourself happy however you can!