When you reside in the country, you feel the seasons more.
More wind.
More snow.
More rain driving into your face as you go to the barn.
Not that those in the country get more precipitation than those in urban areas, but you actually can feel it more.
The wind forces it way across the cornfield on the west side of our house. Where wind breaks in the form of large bushes and trees were planted long ago by my ancestors. To keep the wind and snow and rain away. To help us not feel it's punch so hard.
It can become quite a respite to go into the woods during a howling snow storm and you immediately can feel the calmness around you. The trees block out the wind and the noise and you are in your own sweetened paradise.
The smells are amplified.
The sounds are tunneled right to your ears.
Sometimes it's the silence that is the most exciting thing.
It's a marvelous place to be.
Winter is right around the corner. I heard a lady telling someone else the other day that this winter is supposed to be really bad...egads. Did her Farmers Almanac tell her that? I need to get one of those.
While I do admire the seasons and can not fathom living in a climate without seasons, I am honestly not looking forward to this winter. It will be the first winter for us with animals in the barn. Where we must trek out numerous times during the day (when the day gets shorter and the darkness comes sooner) and check on Buttercup, Tulip and Yogurt. To make sure the kittens are okay and (who am I kidding they will probably be in the house all winter) to check that the water buckets haven't frozen over, to refill the hay bins.
The long shadows of winter are upon us...
When it's so cold that your first inhaled breath outside hurts...
Nor am I looking forward to tromping to the bird feeder in 3 feet of snow to fill it for those that have naught.
But to miss the seasons is to miss a part of the natural world that is an astonishment to the senses.
So, I will get out the snow boots, checking that each has a match. Same with gloves. To prepare us for the upcoming wonder of winter.
Always remembering that spring is there and just waiting to receive us ...
Through woods and mountain passes
the winds, like anthems, roll.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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