quiet of winter

i battle the coming of winter. i don't like being cold. i have to be careful or i will find myself face down, kicking and screaming in a full blown internal tantrum regarding the bitterness and barrenness outside. and i am ashamed. so, i take a deep breath and try to let the quiet in. that is one thing that no other season can provide - the silence of winter. spring is full of the eruption of leaves and flowers and the birth of so many things after the long death. summer nights give us the constant hum of crickets. autumn comes with the violence of forests on fire with color and the wind rustling through the leaves that are beginning to fall. but winter... the snow falls over the naked earth, the animals are all sleeping, night falls fast. it reminds me to slow down, to rest, to curl up under the blanket of snow and the hours of darkness, to retreat deep into the earth for renewal, for the spring that will come. the process is beautiful - both for the earth and for me. if only i could remember.