The Shine Journal

LIFE IN THE WINTER

By

Mel Lees

               How sad it feels. The trees are bare, leaves cover the ground and the stream flows so quietly. Where is all the happy activity of the spring and summer? It becomes so easy to become downhearted and unhappy.

               But wait. Look closely. Open your eyes to your heart and you will see a different story. Look to understand what is occurring all around you. Winter’s activities are as busy as the other seasons. It only takes a bit more effort to discover them.

               Leaves, some still with their vibrant colors, cover the ground. They play with the winds, gentle and rough, singing a joyful crackling verse. They are preparing to return to the soil so the next crop of fresh leaves may appear on the same trees those singing leaves so recently occupied.

               The trees, themselves, are not completely bare. They are just resting and allowing their trunks to make way for the surge of life that yearly flows through them. Look at the branches and twigs. Tiny bumps and swelling interrupt the smoothness of the wood. If you study those swellings and bumps through the winter season, you will be rewarded by witnessing the birth of the new generation of leaves and blossoms. The happiness of the eternal cycle of rest and rebirth must glide from bush to you.

               See the stream. It flows so gently, but it is empty. No small fish, no tadpoles, no skaters disturb the lazy progress its water make on its journey to the sea. No mélange of species struggles for supremacy of the waterway. Instead, the running stream makes its own show. Ripples interrupt the easy descent as it passes by river rocks and boulders. When water overflows those stones, the interruption is hardier and accompanied by delightful music.

               No stillness of winter in this place.  Birds that winter here rather than finding other climates are busy seeking food. Often you can spot them among the shifting fallen leaves and barren trees. There, too, squirrels are hustling to stash a supply to edibles to stock their larders until spring.

               The season will slither upon us and there will be changes. Winter will try its best to make us uncomfortable by  trying to hide all those things we see that make us happy and forward looking. By opening our souls to those wondrous happenings around us every day, winter can be as beautiful as every other season.  Merge yourself with the underlying joy perking beneath the façade of dreariness. The rewards are great.