We don't really get winter where I am.
Not really.
We get a few cold days strung together, maybe.
If we're lucky, we might see a big "ice storm" that consists of a few flakes, a thin sheet of ice on the roads and maybe some frosty white roof tops. That happens every 3 or 4 years. Maybe. And when it does the schools close and people stay home from work and the meteorologists come clean out of their skin with excitement.
There's times when I kinda wish it were different.
I wonder what it would be like to send my kids out to play in the snow. I wonder what it would be like to raise kids that even know what to DO in the snow.
But then…
Then we spend an afternoon with our pants rolled up, short sleeves and flip flops on. A little boy with a jar full of minnows is running through the grass, butterflies scattering before him, and I catch my breath, grateful for warmth.
Or we're coming home from music lessons, just another day, but the windows are cracked a little, and the radio is on, and they are singing and shedding their shoes and talking about swinging in the backyard while mama makes dinner… maybe playing "night tag".
And I can almost taste blackberries.
I can almost see fireflies.
Right then, I don't wish for anything but what is.
This day. This place.
Home.
{ 24 comments }
that’s exactly how I feel! I’m so grateful for our sunshine and mild temperatures right now. I’m trying to sock them away in my memory for when the heat hits.
Now if only it weren’t 40 degrees when we’re riding bikes to school. Brr!
As a transplanted northerner, I’ve been a bit glass-half-empty raising my kids in the tropics. Thanks for the reminder to enjoy what we have!
Beautiful. It’s cold here (really cold today, wind chill 11 below!) but I am grateful for home too.
I actually sighed at the end of this. But I dare you to say the same thing in 6 months timewhen you’re begging for a break in the heat
It’s almost the same here, in my city in Australia. Snow… no way. We do get some cold winter days, and horribly hot summer days (more than we’d like), but mainly lots of lovely days of t-shirts and stretched out skies.
I’ve been talking to my son about snow for a while now, and I think when he sees it (hmmm, we might take them to the Australian snowfields in 6 or so years), he’ll be blown away by it.
Beautiful sunset photo – love the reflection in the bonnet.
I usually enjoy the winter weather; especially watching my little guy build his first snowman. (After waking up to more snow, bundling up, and scraping the car.) But the one thing I would LOVE is to wear flip flips all winter. Hat? Check. Coat? Check. Mittens? Check. Flip-flops? Check.
I could use a little bit of that warmth right now. Everywhere has good and bad though, doesn’t it?
It’s all relative, I guess. I love the beauty of the snow when it is falling…but, the hassle of living in this climate makes me long for yours. Oh contentment, where have you gone?
Endless summer….oh how I long for you!
Love that photo of the evening sky – wow! how beautiful
Wind burn, gray, dirty sloshy roads, fifteen layers of clothes to got outside…snow men made from crystal white flakes, sled rides, hot homemade hot cocoa…winter in WV
that sky, that sky, that sky!!!!!!! well, who gives a rat’s you-know-what about snow when you are looking at that!!!! and i know you know about rats
PS i’ll think of you when we are building snowmen at the inlaws this weekend…
oh, what gorgeous photos!! wow. beautiful thoughts and words as always, stefani.
“I don’t wish for anything but what is”
Now that’s happiness!
I like the way you remind us to be content with “what is”. That’s the best way to be! My girls have been going crazy over our Book of Days. My oldest (4th grade) has been copying your drawings all day. She loves them
. We sat down together and even I took a shot at some birds and snow flurries. My youngest said, “I can’t believe we get another book in February!”
Just moved back to East Texas from my 5 year journey in Chicago…and am so glad to be home. Love your blog.
Beautiful! I just saw Elissa’s (Birch Swinging) post about you and love your site.
Beautiful post, Stefani, and if your ever in B.C., come by to visit us in the rain and sometimes snow!
I too have that niggling feeling of wishing we could experience what it’s like to live somewhere snowy. We get snow on the mountain so we can drive 45 minutes and play in at least which is nice. I planted a garden yesterday so right now I’m feeling very grateful for our mild weather.
I love winter in the Northeast but at this moment, I’m wishing, just a little, for the day you just described. Later I’ll help my oldest into his snow pants, tuck his puffy gloves into his sleeves, velcro the boots and pull the snow pants over the tops, secure the hat within the jacket hood and send him out in the snow. I’ll stay inside and watch from the window while the smell of baking cookies fills my kitchen and the milk simmers for the hot cocoa. When he comes back into my kitchen with a runny nose and bright red cheeks and a huge smile – strips down to his long-johns and starts to explain the snow fort that he will have just built
You have a very nice way of putting things, but I’m sure you’ve heard this thousands of times before. I hope it still means something to you.
Beautiful. I love flip flops
Where are you? I’m in NC and LOVE our unpredictable weather… sometimes the winters are a little too wet (like this year), but I like the way we don’t have too much cold… now… there are times when I wish I lived in a tropical zone though… my feet get cold and don’t warm up until April…
Ohhhhh lucky you! We are frosty here in Utah… but my 3 boys love skating around on the ice and pulling sleds. So it makes out daily outings fun.
Comments on this entry are closed.