I Like Winter

Journal 2004 12 30
I Like Winter

The Corps continues the activities of men bound by the forces of nature. The Mandans activities are similarly limited.

Great hospitality on both sides. Indians visit the Fort frequently and the men like visiting the villages.

The last few days finds the temperature moving between –20 degrees and –9 degrees. Clark notes that on the prairie –9 is not considered cold!

High winds and frosts bring a new look to the landscape. Evidently the heaviness of the frost, compared to snow, blown by the wind, virtually leveled the prairie. Probably looked like a large white mall parking lot minus the streetlamps and painted lines.

We have in many ways pushed away the limits imposed on us by the seasons. I’m not sure we are any better for it. Limited travel, limited exposure and limited work force us to interact with one another in winter. Winter forged relationships that were later bonded by work and adventure in seasons of growth and harvest.

Do we allow “winter” to take place in our lives? Is there a time brought on by external forces when we pull life into a protected place and allow one season to end and quiet preparation for a new season to begin?

Have we so controlled our world that we have deluded ourselves into thinking we can move outside the cycles ordained for us in the creation of the world and man? The word winter has several nuances. It is rooted in Hebrew words implying darkness, hiddenness, and a temporary residing. “Wintering” is best seen in our modern America in those we call “snowbirds”. Winter, reside temporarily, in Palm Springs or Arizona. Spring, summer and fall in the North. They take refuge from the harshness of winter by relocating. Before high-speed transportation people didn’t relocate for the winter, they closed off the harshness of the weather and drew into a dormancy ordained by God.

We must allow dormancy in our lives. One season must end for a new one to begin. More fruit can only come from trees that have been harvested, pruned and prepared for new growth.

Even bodybuilders have found over the past twenty years that for increased muscle growth they must have a period of time with no effort to build muscles. A “dormancy” to their routines that they might experience greater growth.

As we come upon the yearly fast it is winter. A great time to draw in and allow one season to end as preparation is made for a new one.

I like winter.