"For us human beings, winter should bring a thinking time, a re-evaluation of our lives."
-Gladys Taber
Snow is flying swirling over our small village and the woods that surround it. Our walk was adventurous, leaning into the gusts of wind dense with snowflakes, huffing and puffing uphill with Kiki bounding ahead and darting to catch the dry, shriveled leaves. At some point I heard a strange sound right next to me; the bark of a huge tree was cracking before my very eyes, the silvery rind splitting upwards in a line which slowly spiraled the whole trunk. Never experienced anything like it!
Now, back in our warm home, my husband is watching a ski race, enjoying his final day of vacation; and my dog is curled on his lap, a snoring ball of white and brown. Winter is indeed, as Taber says, a time of reflection, of family, of quietude and hibernation. I thought of all the wild animals, snuggled in their nests, and it seems almost a shame that we humans aren't allowed to do the same until spring bursts from the frozen ground. But, even if we cannot crawl into a cozy cave of feather beds and quilts until April, we can go to the forest and soak up the silence and the peace which abides there. And take it home with us, to put into everything we do.
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