Thursday February 9 2017  A COLD WIND BLOWS

Wisconsin welcomes me with lingering tendrils of icy fingers.  I thought I was cold yesterday morning scraping the snow off my car.  Well today I have been living cold.  I was in and out so I dressed in my warmest faux fur/faux suede coat.  I had on my faux fur lined hat with flaps that come down over my ears, and a scarf around my neck.  Underneath all that, my attire consisted of a shirt, pants, and a thick sweat suit jacket.  I was a sight for sore eyes!

It’s warmer now with the oscillating heater breathing out a constant stream of warm air under my desk.  Perhaps the house would not be so cold if we would turn on the two heat zones we rarely heat.  We have three pumps, three separate thermostats, and three areas of which we can heat separately.  We usually heat the kitchen and living area.  When it drops below zero we will turn on the other heat zones an hour or so a day to keep the pipes from freezing.  If we don’t use the vast majority of rooms we don’t heat them.  Mine and Dave’s offices are across the hall from each other in a NO HEAT ZONE, and we each have our own private floor heater which we turn on while we are working.  It saves lots of money!  Maybe that humidity I left behind in Corpus Christi wasn’t quite so bad after all.  Actually, the humidity did not bother me and I rather enjoyed its damp caressing touch to my normally dry winter skin. I could certainly tell the difference in just a few days. 

But I am home and Wisconsin winters are my lot in life.  I have long ago become used to living in perpetual winter except for the few short months from May through September (if we are fortunate).  And actually, if truth be known, I do love the winters here.  I enjoy the shorter days with darker evenings and mornings.  I enjoy being snowed in and having a great excuse not to leave the house (except to exercise that is).  I enjoy the smell of soup cooking on the stove and hibernating in the confines of our home. 

Our house has lots of glass surrounding our inside world so it often seems as if I am living in the outdoors even when confined to our safety zone of heat.  Without heat we could not survive.  And without the light from our many windows it would be difficult for me to survive the long months of being indoors.  So, I have the better of two worlds.  And I never take it for granted. 

So wherever you are as you read these words look around you and find something for which you can be grateful.  Look for the silver lining.  Whether it is light or dark, if you enjoy it be grateful.  If you don’t enjoy it, ask yourself what you can do to change it.  And then go about doing it.  I choose to be thankful in whatever situation or surroundings I am in.  And being thankful changes a lot of things!  And even when I am cold I am still full of joy!

 

GOD IS IN THE DETAIL

Kathleen Martens

February 9 2017

http://www.visionsofpoetry.com

 

Thank You God for windows

Which look out over our land.

Thank You for a heated room

Where comfortably I stand.

 

I  gaze at winter’s glory

As I’m confined by brick and glass,

And I wonder how much longer

This old world can last?

 

In spring and summer, fall and winter

God’s miracles abound.

I never tire at the view

Before a new one comes around.

 

God must love this winter world

For it always seems to last,

But before I know it.

Spring brings a warmer blast.

 

And the greenery shades the windows

Blocking gentle, peaceful views

As if we live in a glass aquarium

And everything seems daily new.

 

And all too quickly comes the autumn

Gentle rustles of mighty color.

And not far behind is winter,

Autumn’s mighty brother.

 

And once again I’m in my element,

Short days and longer nights.

And for that I am so grateful

As I turn on my early lights.

 

Thank You God for each season as it comes.

Thank You for snow to nourish our land with moisture.

Thank You for rain that brings forth our flowers.

Thank You for sunshine that grows leaves so well.

Thank You for the harvest of autumn.

And especially thank You that the world shares its seasons so there are perpetual places to grow food.

 

GOOD NIGHT AND I HOPE YOU ARE WARM!