So, this morning 4:30am I awoke to hear howling wind and ice crystals rattling the windows and I knew it was going to be one of those days - the ones that challenge my sense of fairness in the world. I peeked out the window to confirm the crustiness of the day and then crawled back into bed to wallow in denial for another couple of hours.
From the inside of a warm house the new landscape is crisp and clean. Hence the "pretty." However, once you have to venture out into the reality of that landscape it becomes only too apparent where the "awful" comes from.
Which makes me wonder a little bit about our perceptions. How is it that we decide that our inconvenience or discomfort somehow trumps the needs of mother nature to utililize dormancy to make rapid focused growth possible. After all, think of how material blessings deteriorate over time until one day they've become trials. The vehicle that entered your life as a complete and total blessing when transportation was becoming hit and miss becomes a lemon too after a few years. Does that negate it's role as a blessing? I don't think so. I think it's the transitory nature of mortality that does it to us.
"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." - Anne Bradstreet Meditations Divine and Moral, 1655
So I suppose it comes back to opposition in all things. We don't realize how good food tastes until we have experienced hunger. We don't understand the true nature of blessedness until we have wallowed in our own grief. Unfortunately, that means we sometimes have to bear the bitter bite of winter in order to really treasure the warmth of spring. I don't really like that idea, but I guess we all have to deal with things we don't like. So I will be chilled for the next 5-6 months before experiencing the blessed delicious days of summer where my body is actually capable of generating enough heat. SIGH... The dark days are upon us. I'd write a haiku to commemorate the occasion, but then everyone would be depressed....
Which makes me wonder a little bit about our perceptions. How is it that we decide that our inconvenience or discomfort somehow trumps the needs of mother nature to utililize dormancy to make rapid focused growth possible. After all, think of how material blessings deteriorate over time until one day they've become trials. The vehicle that entered your life as a complete and total blessing when transportation was becoming hit and miss becomes a lemon too after a few years. Does that negate it's role as a blessing? I don't think so. I think it's the transitory nature of mortality that does it to us.
"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." - Anne Bradstreet Meditations Divine and Moral, 1655
So I suppose it comes back to opposition in all things. We don't realize how good food tastes until we have experienced hunger. We don't understand the true nature of blessedness until we have wallowed in our own grief. Unfortunately, that means we sometimes have to bear the bitter bite of winter in order to really treasure the warmth of spring. I don't really like that idea, but I guess we all have to deal with things we don't like. So I will be chilled for the next 5-6 months before experiencing the blessed delicious days of summer where my body is actually capable of generating enough heat. SIGH... The dark days are upon us. I'd write a haiku to commemorate the occasion, but then everyone would be depressed....
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