February was full of beautiful hoar frost mornings. I have to get up early to see this frost because the sun is not a friend of frost. As soon as the sun is up, the frost is gone.
It may be because I lived in the city but I don't remember such beauty in winter when I was young. Everything was muddy, slushy or icy and slippery. Winter always seemed to be a hassle and I had no appreciation of the season. Although it has been impossible to find appreciation for -50C, there are a LOT of wonderful aspects of winter. Hoar frost is one. Vast views of clean, white, pure snow is another. The entertainment of watching the dogs create new paths through deep snow after a storm... I could go on and on.
The winter here is long. I grow tired of it before it is finished so there is always an anxious wait for spring to arrive. But that anticipation of spring at this time of year is part of what I now love about winter. Another is the down time from my garden and all the social activity that ramps up in the summer here. When you only get 4 months of good weather, you tend to jam pack as much activity as possible into it. Add to that the time consuming joys of a large garden to the schedule and you can see... the arrival of winter is usually welcome. What I have learned is that aside from the many natural and environmental reasons for winter, there is also a mental reason for me. I relax in winter in ways I cannot in the spring and summer. The warm seasons are too full of activity to spend any real stretches of time relaxing.
Those relaxation hours infuse new enthusiasm in me, for my garden. Taking an early morning walk through the chilly dusk, when the dogs are still sleeping and the wildlife is just waking up, makes me notice how everything is very still. So still, the quiet whirr of my camera focus reverberates through the trees. It is at these times that I wonder why it took so long for me to appreciate winter. I suppose it was that -50C thing!
