Growing up in Lexington, Kentucky, I loved playing in the snow, making snow angels, and finding icicles to lick – nature’s freeze pops. My sisters would find the ones on trees while I could only reach those hanging from the car. Thankfully, I was told not to eat those.
As an adult, I was not too fond of winter. My body was intolerant to the cold weather, causing me to curl up under a blanket. When working, I had a portable heater under my desk – even in the summer while the ladies were hot-natured and kept the office’s temperature freezing.
If it ever snowed, I admired it from afar when I lived in Tennessee. It was pretty, but I did not want to be outside. It is difficult for a nature-lover to stay indoors. And whenever asked to join in festivities, I was absolute in declining, giving my friends my “I hibernate in the winter” speech.
But the year after I moved back from Long Island, having several small adventures, I had joined two hiking groups. One of the groups had members who didn’t brave the weather much, and I fit in perfectly. But the other group, called Tennessee Wild – well, their name says it all. I was coaxed to join them on a hike that winter in 24-degree weather. I decided I would learn to enjoy all seasons and not “sit this one out” during winter. What did God want me to know?
I learned that layering my clothes would keep me warm, and hiking would raise my body temperature. Seeing winter from a new perspective brought back childhood delight, and I witnessed my first frost flower. I felt alive in the brisk chill of the air. I vowed I would not hibernate in winter again.
Now 55 and having arthritis, my bones hurt when it’s cold. I would most likely want to hibernate during the rest of winter, but thankfully, the Lord put animals in my path. To walk puppies and take care of my horse, I must get out in the weather. I may not stay out long, but I do witness the beauty of winter and make memories, living – not just existing.
However, I am over the snow after the first months of extreme weather. Most of my friends in the south agree. And some crack me up with their Facebook posts scolding winter. I enjoy it and want the snow to come – until the end of February. I’m not quite ready for spring to come, but I don’t wish to have any more extreme weather. Ice storms and snows are hard for a rancher to take care of animals, make sure they have water that isn’t frozen, clean up after them, and care for their needs.
December and January are almost “grin and bear it” months. Late February and early March tease Kentuckians that the brutal weather is over.
I don’t shut off the gas logs or put away my sweaters, thinking spring has arrived, but I am hopeful that I don’t have to enlist my twin sons’ help if I get iced in at home and to depend on them to take care of Smokey the way I would take care of him. I wouldn’t say I like asking for help. I pray that no winter storms cause an outage where our “electric-run” well doesn’t give drinking water to the animals (or flushing toilets in our home). Ginger and I have the same sentiments about loving summer and wanting it to last. We also have the same feeling about winter – except I think I am more tolerable of it than she is – at least in the first few months, but then I join her in her angsts of Facebook about the freezing temps.
Ginger and I both have Maltese, and we live in the county. When the rains saturate the soggy bottoms of western Kentucky, leaving no place for our short-leggers to “go,” that is only part of our woes. I am grateful for her advice telling me to fill bathtubs with water (for flushing toilets) just before bad weather hits.
Here we are once again – expecting snow tonight. The wind is cold, the temps are dropping, and I am preparing again. Do I have enough pine shavings for my horse’s stall? Do I have enough horse feed in the bin? Do I need to do a hay drop from the barn loft (because climbing up into the loft hurts these bones when it’s frigid outside), and do I have enough toilet paper if we can’t get out of the driveway? All of what I prepare helps me relax and ride out whatever this next system brings.
These winter woes are not catastrophic, and I refuse to whine all winter, but I do vent just a tad by this time of the year. However, they seem pretty trivial with everything going on in the world and what is happening now.
This enlightenment from the Holy Spirit gives us a perspective of gratitude. We know winter is necessary. The pruning of the many trees we can’t take care of ourselves, the cleaning up of the earth in a way only God has the knowledge and foresight in meeting needs in which we aren’t aware. The dying of winter, the newness of spring – the transition of 60 degree days and back to 30 degree days. I have learned that when the weather seems so inconsistent, instead of letting it agitate me, I have thanked the Lord for the break between the storms to prepare for the next bout.
I have enjoyed the warm spring-like days provided to get on my tractor and take off the manure piles that built up during bad weather. It feels great to have a clean barn, empty muck buckets, and for my sons to pick up supplies in the truck in good weather. God always provides. It may feel our work is in vain. To clean the barn, empty the manure spreader, knowing once again we have to deal with freezing temps and more hard work at the ranch, but we choose our hard. Everyone has responsibilities, and none of us control the weather. So we trust these difficult winters to the Lord. We recognize all the provisions He has given – even when it feels like the movie “Groundhog Day” again and again.
Let’s do this one mo’ time. We may have cold temps reappear during the next few months, but here’s hoping that this is the last of the extreme “plan for” weather.