Leaving Winter

A time to say goodbye to winter, even though spring equinox is still a bit away.  

A time to set aside clocks and watches, alarms and beeps.

I have conquered time with this piece of stitchery, have put it in its place, and vowed to open my own mind and heart to the freshness of spring.

"In the midst of winter, I found within me, there was an invincible summer.  And that makes me happy.  For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger -- something better pushing right back." - Albert Camus

Winter Time

Almost to Spring... 

Such a strange Winter this has been.  More 'conflicted' days than 'contented' days. Even my body has felt it, as I've dealt with aches and pains more often than I usually have to.

As I write this, the sun is shining and its above freezing outside.  Perhaps I'm getting a glimpse of the Spring to come.  Perhaps my life will be filled with light instead of darkness as we greet the coming months.  

I suspect that at this time in history I need to make my own bits and pieces of joy and imagination.   I must live in the moment and make each of those small moments count.  
Spring is coming...

"Time, time, time

See what's become of me

While I looked around for my possibilities

I was so hard to please

But look around, leaves are brown

And the sky is a hazy shade of winter..."

Simon and Garfunkle

A Walk In Winter

In spring and summer and fall I don't have to look for beauty.  It surrounds me!  New life, greens and pinks and whites and reds and blues.  My winter view is totally different and I love it.  There are open skies because the trees have lost their leaves.  There is a nip to the air that makes me appreciate my warm and cozy house.  I don't take things for granted in the winter, and that makes me more aware of each day.

A walk in winter is a gift.  Often I am cold and the wind is blowing and things look a bit dreary.  The next day the sun shines through the branches and I notice the dried petals of the Oak Leaf Hydrangea.  If she can stand it outside then certainly I can.

"Nature looks dead in winter because her life is gathered into her heart.  She withers the plant down to the root that she may grow it up again fairer and stronger.  She calls her
family together within her inmost home to prepare them for being scattered abroad upon the face of the earth." - Hugh Macmillan

The Winter Garden

As we delve deeper into winter I spy this beauty outside my studio window.

The Oakleaf Hydrangea never fails me.  From one season to another it gives me beauty while reminding me of time passing. 

When I took this picture the sun was shining, the air cold (but not freezing) and all was right with the world.  Entering a new year, this beautiful plant reminds me that everything has its season and some are able to remain beautiful throughout all four seasons.

"January is the quietest month in the garden...but just because it looks quiet doesn't mean nothing is happening.  The soil, open to the sky, absorbs the pure rainfall, while microorganisms convert tilled-under fodder into usable nutrients for the next crop of plants.  The feasting earth worms tunnel along, aerating the soil and preparing it to welcome the seeds and bare roots to come." - Rosalie Muller Wright, editor of Sunset Magazine 1999