When it gets cold in this country, we seem to try to outdo one another with our examples of how bad it really is; and the first liar never stands a chance! On AOL we saw a video about living in Antarctica during Condition One when no one could leave the dorms. The walls of the entrance looked like the inside of our deep freeze and the wind howled as viciously as any banshee ever could. Sometimes it does do well to put things into perspective, but who in his right mind would choose to spend his or her life down there with the penguins?
In various places around the country, the temperatures have been WAY down the scale; so common sense has had schools closed and folks staying home from non-essential work. And folks whose birthdays landed in this cold month just toss up their hands at another year of party-less fun and snuggles. Every year since the oldest grandson was born, I keep thinking we will actually manage to be at his house for his birthday. So far, that has happened a grand total of ONE time. Having a birthday in January is almost as bad as having one on December 23, 24 or 26.
No, cold weather definitely makes a difference in how we do things. For over 40 years now my dad has called us up the first time it really freezes the stock ponds solid and asks us if we would like to go seine minnows with him. This morning I had to call him to ask if he had the minnow seine ready. He said something about the wind. I told him that the wind wasn’t blowing unless he wanted to count the little breezes that had been moving so slowly the other night that they froze solid and broke on the ground. Every once in a while one of those would take off after it thawed out.
About the only thing worse than the cold is freezing rain. As desperately as we need rain, it really would be nice if it held off long enough to come on a decent day when the temperatures are above freezing. Here in Texas it would have to rain long enough to settle the dust and fill the tanks to do us any good. Some ranchers don’t even need to see their cattle because they can just eyeball the dust clouds where the cattle walk. And that is not an exaggeration, either.
Winter must have some very good purposes: freezing out some insects, giving the trees time to think about spring, and allowing hope to dwell in the hearts of men. Animals don’t have to hope for spring because they know how to react when it gets here: kicking up heels, snorting and running with tails in the air, and just busting a gut trying to eat every green thing. I guess winter just proves that we have more to look forward to this year. Maybe the seasons are an assurance that life does go on. If everything else goes to heck in a hand basket, at least we can still see the changing of the leaves and the coming of the rains. Blessings.
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