A forum thread has prompted this, my first blog post.  I had at first typed this as a reply.  Then after a bit of reflection I decided this was a good way to start my blog. So I did a control C, copied it to word and edited it a bit.   My blog, I will call Shenandoah Seasoned, to reflect the impact my chosen home has had on me.  More on this in future entries.  

So here it is....

"On Winter"

Well, can't say as winter is my favorite season.  One good cold snap to wake me up after Christmas and one snow, because it is pertteee works well for me.   Otherwise I'd just as soon spend my winter days in the 50s and 60s with a good rain every week to wash the dust outta the air.  But alas, here in the Valley we are doomed to our share of single digit nights and days that won't melt and icicle.  Occasionally I have 3 week stretches like this in January.  But we do have our January thaws also.  And yes, while there is an occasional winter with little or no snow, we normally do see a couple of 6 to 12 inchers..... even the occasional 20 incher.  And in 32 years here I have even witnessed about 3 legitimate blizzards, one of them in March!  You know what the nice thing about those snows is?  Under them the daffodils and tulips creep upward thru the soil, even daring to penetrate into the snow cover itself.  And they are only the tip of the iceberg.

What’s good about it?  Well there is Christmas and New Years.  Then groundhawg's day is a lotta fun.  What about President's day when we celebrate two of the most amazing public men ever, George Washington, whose upstanding character set a precedent for the peaceful and voluntary passage of state power that is still practiced today..... and Abe Lincoln, a man with an iron fortitude and vision that he upheld, even in the direst of circumstances.  Then we celebrate Martin Luther King, a man of very similar good character, fortitude and vision.  Oh yes we can't forget Valentines days and its mirthful flirtations.... just what we need to lighten the slowly lengthening days.  And finally there is the upcoming St. Patty's day, sneaking in just under the tail skirts of the season.  Ahhhh St. Patty's day.... celebrating GREEN...... a gardener's holiday if there ever was one. Got you taters and peas ready to plant?  It’s no accident that St Patty's Day comes at the tail end of the season.

I will begrudgingly tolerate even a less than perfect winter by my standards (and I've seen a few less than perfect ones.), because I know it is the winter that sets the stage for spring to come.  Not only do the plant circadian rhythms require a winter in a good part of our earth, but I believe we humans do too.  We need to be lulled to rest our bodies and minds.... and even more so, we need to have the opportunity to anticipate the spring.  That’s the best part of the winter.... the anticipation of the crocus and daffodil, the forsythia and shadberry and redbud...... and everything that will dutifully follow in its proper order.  Winter allows nature to reorder itself, and it allows us to reorder our minds and expectations and attitudes.  You know, I think I can tolerate just about any winter weather, knowing what comes from it.