Not Your Normal January

We're seven days into the New Year, and it feels like Spring here in the Sanpete Valley. I am amazed at the temperatures near 50 degrees, even though it remains in the teens-to-twenties at night. The two inches of snow we had just before Christmas has mostly melted, leaving squooshy mud and brown grass behind. The sun shines brightly every day, and I hardly need my light therapy. Tending the chickens and Bunny is not the problem it usually is for me in the dead of winter. I vacillate between gratefulness for the warmth and sunshine, and considering that sooner or later, we are going to get those heavy snow storms! This often happens in March, just when I am raring to go in the greenhouse and eager to play in the garden! But we shall see.

I am preparing to go to Albuquerque this weekend to help John deliver a harp. I love going south in January; last year we went to Las Vegas for regulations just after my birthday. I will never forget the experience we had a few years ago during a hard, cold, snowy winter. As we came down the interstate into St. George UT, the sun was out and it was considerably warmer than we had felt for months. Driving through the Virgin River Gorge, both John and I got giddy and silly and couldn't stop smiling and joking! We both realized that we hadn't been in the light for weeks and we were "drunk" with sunshine! I am so grateful for my (usually) annual winter break for sun and warmth and renewal.

It is interesting to me that our culture has conditioned us to believe that we "start over" in the coldest and harshest time of the year. Ancient societies all celebrated this concept in the Spring, when life was coming forth from the earth, animal babies were being born, and there was a promise of fresh food, planting, and the harvest to come. Yet here we are, desperately trying to convince ourselves that amidst the snow and cold, it's time to move ourselves mentally and physically! My personal nature has always been to hunker down, stay inside, warm and dry, while waiting for the weather to improve. I pretty much go into survival mode in the winter, dreaming of my gardens and plans and waiting for Spring. I have often wished for the slower lifestyle of our ancestors, who really could just stay home and live on what they had stored and prepared. Of course, those good plans didn't always work the way they thought, and there are the downsides of trying to keep a home and family warm and provided for regardless of circumstances, but sometimes it seems like more of a comforting, restoring lifestyle than our hectic, year around pace!

January is also my birthday. When I was growing up in California, it was relatively warm and bright and I didn't mind it. However, over 20 years in Utah has changed my outlook- maybe growing older has contributed to that- but a birthday in the winter when I struggle the most to feel good has been difficult. I had determined that this year, I would not let it get to me; and now here we are with sunshine! I've two and a half weeks to go, though, and the weather may change. I'll keep at it, nonetheless.

I hope your personal reflections of the years past and the shiny new one before us are comforting and satisfying. As I have been learning to view myself, circumstances, and those around me with a kinder, softer view, I can see where sometimes I have missed the good because of my stresses of the present. It's probably also easier now that my children are grown and I have slowed down a bit. It really is true that perspective is everything; how I see myself and my life now brings peace and comfort to my soul, and I have surely needed that! My expectations have, thankfully, changed, and I think I am prepared now to welcome the days to come and the life experiences  yet ahead of me with greater openness and joy. I wish the same for you, too!

Thanks for reading; be sure to comment and/or share!This is last year's snowman; not enough yet this year!