The view from my window
I’ve been pretty busy grumbling about the snow and ice recently…there has certainly been plenty of it. Having spent the last several years in Florida, I’ve misplaced most of my excitement, and for sure the wonder of it all has been lost in the chill of it all. However, I do remember a time when as a child I loved to take walks late at night in the freshly fallen snow. I remember our family meeting the Miller family, or the Nettie and Bob Parker family, or Joyce and Charlie Evans for a day of sledding at Park Hill in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Park Hill, Owensboro, KY 1960
Making snow angels, building snow forts, having snow-ball fights, skating across Carpenter Lake out of Owensboro when it froze over, and tunneling through 6 foot drifts to create mazes and places to play… collectively these memories are all pleasant. I loved walking to school on mornings when everything had frozen. It was a challenge between my friends and me to see who could walk on the frozen puddles and cause the ice to break. Usually this activity resulted in wet, cold feet for the challenge winner for the remainder of the day.
Today as we were out for an afternoon drive, my eyes were riveted on the beauty of the crystals encasing every tree and bush. The sun, though rarely seen these past many weeks, touched every branch, creating unique art forms of such brilliance, one could not settle into the doldrums. It was beautiful, and exhilarating to see. The shadows up into the woods falling on the pristine snow, touched here and there by a ray of sunshine were intricate in design and mystery. I know that underneath all those many inches of snow and ice, God is at work on a masterpiece of equal beauty, and we are just about to see it happen. We call it spring. I am truly ready for the cold, dark days of winter to fade into memory, but I am thankful for the beauty of today.
I’m planning on beginning a “watch” for the very first sign of new life. I wonder, will it be a Robin, a Crocus, or a bud on a tree? What are you watching for? Remember, beside what you see, Spring WILL come again…it’s a promise God made, and I will trust Him with the details of when it is going to happen.
Ritch Writes 
Posted by Sharon Williams on February 9, 2014 at 8:18 am
It definitely is pretty! But I think I am ready for spring too!
Posted by Karen Sizemore on February 9, 2014 at 6:14 pm
Ritch, is that Mahala or you on the back of the sled that Mom is getting ready to push? We’ve missed the beautiful iced branches while in TX this week. The shimmering of the branches during this kind of winter is as beautiful as the most colorful of fall leaves. What a great gift God gives to us in the varieties of the same view He gives to us each season!