OLD MAN WINTER

I always imagined that Christmas trees are evidence that Old Man Winter has been nagged into submission by Mother Nature. Old Man Winter might be cold and frigid and undeniably unpleasant, but for this short time, he gets dressed up and turns out for holiday celebrations, looking his best at the insistence of Ms. Nature.  His concession to being cleaned up and brought inside makes the transition to deep winter a bit easier to bear.

Mother Nature might insist that the accessories match and the lights be on, but we are allowed to choose our own jewelry and apparel to dress up the bit of Old Man Winter that we bring home from the tree farm. We do love our Christmas Trees decked out in sparkles and glitter and swags and garlands. We fight with lights and tree stands and extension cords to bring this bit of the outdoors under our control. But in the end, we open our homes to the magnificence of the outside world, and embrace it with all the exuberance that the season brings.

Thus, Old Mother Nature employs her guile and feminine mystique to lure us into appreciating the winter landscape. Because, after the holiday season … after the parties are over, and the gifts are put away, after the New Year resolutions have been made and broken, and after the shoveling has gotten really, really, tiresome, and the icicles hang heavy … after all of that, it is still hard to pass a field of evergreens, blanketed in snow and not hear a faint echo of sleigh bells ring-ring-ring-a-linging, and remember a lifetime of Christmases past.

So, here is wishing you all a season full of love, beauty and peace.