Day 36, February 5

Recently, a bitter cold spell has swept over much of the nation, paralyzing traffic, closing schools, sending hoardes of people to the grocery store to stock up on supplies. By the third day of temperatures well below zero, I found myself wishing away the cold, wishing away the entire season of winter.

Then I stopped and realized that I really didn't want to do away with winter. In Colorado, we are fortunate enough to experience every season to its fullest. I love the colors, the smells, the sounds of each season. The rich scarlets, saffrons, and ochers of autumn, flavored by the smoke of wood-burning stoves. The sun glistening off the winter snow, casting it with a myriad of shades of blues and golds. The tender greens and bold reds and purples of spring flowers. The hard bright blue of a summer sky, the sun a bowl of yellow, the rhythmic purr of a lawnmower punctuating the early morning.

When I started this blog, I said that it wouldn't be filled with scriptures. However, this entry begs for one of my favorite passages: "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven ..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

In reflecting upon the change of seasons, I thought of my own life. My season as a young mother has passed, my children grown, some with families of their own. That season has evolved into a different, more subtle kind of mothering, including grandchildren. My four grandchildren delight me with their curiosity, exhaust me with their energy, and fill me with wonder at the sheer joy they bring into my life.

Would I trade this season for another? No. Despite the problems that come with age, I love where I am right now and, sometimes, I even love who I am, who I am becoming. (I qualify that with the word "sometimes," because who can love a sagging body, arthritic hips, and bad feet?)

So, for today, I am grateful for the change of seasons ... in nature and in my life.