Thursday, January 14, 2010

OLD Post - Winter

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2005



Winter


December is the worst month for Marylanders. This is when we are pushed to finish in a few weeks the aggregate of chores and work that we have been unable to complete all year. Drivers and shoppers go crazy as black Friday instigates the worst driving of the year. Early snow showers and ice storms make things infinitely worse. Yet, there is always a 'last day of summer' deep in the December calendar, a day the temperature peeks in the 70s or 80s, leading children out of their jackets and mittens out into the fields. However, like the bulbs which poked their heads through the soft fall leaves, we recede into our warm, protected beds until the spring rains come to rouse us. Then there are the holidays (holy-days), when we get a much needed end of the year break to recuperate, reflect, and rethink our plans and aspirations for the coming year. Even though very little changes between Dec 31 and Jan 1, our perceptions and beliefs, shared by many in our modern culture make the change real and significant. This is strange, yes? Why is it that a fairly arbitrary distinction, demarcating one year from the next, makes such a significant impact on our lives?


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