We’ve just officially entered into winter, and I find myself longing for a long-ago memory of snowy fun. Pennsylvania winters are cold, and we had lots of snow over my years growing up. We also had a 200 acre farm with plenty of hills and some inner tubes. It’s amazing we got to adulthood in one piece! The slide down those hills was exhilerating, but I remember complaining endlessly about the walk back up. I wanted a ski lift on our farm.
I have been in South Carolina since 1996. Winters here are truly not the same. I’ve never seen snow on the ground for more than a day or two, and we’ve only gotten a couple of inches at a time (at the most). Our children are sadly not getting to experience the fun in the snow that I had growing up.
It’s funny how our memories can be selective, though. I sit here feeling sad for our children being deprived of an experience, but then I remember how some years the snow would just never go away. There was also something with the way the clouds moved in our area that caused the sun to hardly ever shine in the winter. By the end of January every year, I was not pleasant to be around. Light deprivation is not my friend.
I am reminded right now of how the grass always seems greener (or the snow whiter!) anywhere but where I am. If I could have anything for Christmas, it would be to learn to live in the now and be content. The past had its moments of brilliance and moments of heartache, and the future will hold the same. I want my now to be enjoyed before it slips away.
Light deprivation.
Those two words make me cringe. I’m so bad that yesterday, at the summer solstice, I felt a bit sad that it’s all downhill from here
Welcome to the lovely world of seasonal affective disorder.
Yes and yes and yes and yes to “the now”. It really is all there is and it really is more than enough.
Sue, I am so that way! Every year I’m a bit sad on June 21 knowing that the days only get shorter. They’re at their shortest here now, so it can only get better!
I love what you wrote – “it really is more than enough.” Words of wisdom, friend.
Oh, you made me feel so much better knowing that I’m not the only crackpot in the world that gets sad at the very height of the summer solstice! There’s two of us!
Poor you
Hehe. Yes, it really is more than enough, but it’s so easy to forget that, isn’t it? That’s what frustrates me. Now Christmas is over (well, it is for me – it’s Boxing Day here) I am looking forward to getting back into the now.