On Monday morning, I woke up to a cold, snowy day. It was close to -20, and my car was covered in snow. Since I didn't have the foresight to park away from the curb, I had to stand in deep snow to brush it all off.
On Tuesday, morning, well, see above. (Except I did park my car some distance from the side of the road so I could brush it off!)
Wednesday morning, when it hit the coldest point of the week, I started to dream about what it will be like to live somewhere that hovers around the "mid-40s." (Fahrenheit... I use the quotes because that still makes more sense to me than whatever the Celcius conversion would be.) At this point, I finally talked myself into considering something that I have learned a lot about over the past few years, and in my business classes: trade-offs.
Trade-offs mean that even though I won't be brushing off my car every morning, there will be other challenges, or foregone blessings that come with the snow. So, as I drove to work on Wednesday morning, I started a mental list of good things that come with the snow and the cold.
Here's what I came up with:
- It's pretty. Winter in places that don't get snow is actually kind of ugly. I got to drive through the river valley to work and see large evergreens with snow in the boughs.
- It makes me tougher. When it comes to cold temperatures, I feel as though I can handle almost anything. Next year, when I am walking distance from school, there will never be a day that it feels too cold to walk. And it was 26 years of Canadian winters that produced that ability.
That's all I got... Any other suggestions?
2 comments:
I like that your post about how the headache of moving is worth it, because you can avoid the snow, is followed by a post about how the snow is worth it, because you'll miss it later. It's funny, especially since you use the word "snow" so very often!
I LOVE spring; it's so exciting when the trees start to bud and flowers start to grow! But I always say that winter is my favourite season. That feels and sounds like a contradiction, but it's nonetheless true. Winter is special. And winter is the only season in which you can go skiing. So there's another thing for your list.
~your sister~
There is a lot of snow, thus warranting the excessive comments about snow!
I had to force myself to appreciate the snow because I don't want to become that person who doesn't appreciate what they have right here and now and is always looking to something in the future to bring contentment. I want to learn to be content no matter how cold it is, no matter how much snow is on the ground and no matter how long it takes me to get to work in the morning.
It can be so easy to spend life looking forward to tomorrow and end up missing today.
Post a Comment