Source: Xavierite Staff
Dead, bare trees; frozen lakes; black snow; dried grass. All these things, characteristic of the dead of winter, may seem ugly or even scary at first glance.
When compared to the brightness of the summer, winter seems like a bleak and forgettable time of year. However, there is so much beauty and wonder hiding beneath the blanket of snow that covers the dead and died grass.
For starters, winter brings with it many holidays such as Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and Valentine’s Day. The holidays, no matter how people celebrate them, are a time that brings people together.
The cold weather makes it all the more lovely to snuggle up closely with the people you love while sharing hot drinks over a roasting fire. These small gestures of love, brought on by coldness outside, are special and can only really be admired in the colder months of the year.
Stark wind outside also brings with it so many rich and decadent scents. You could be standing outside and suddenly smell the smokiness of fire burning nearby. In the winter, most people swap their fruity and light perfumes for richer and heavier scents that linger even after someone walks away.
Of course, there are also so many delicious warm foods that heat people up even when it’s freezing outside. There are so many variations of stews, chillies, and soups to please everyone’s palette. Even more beautifully, so many people pass on family recipes for these foods that warm people up both in the literal and figurative sense.
Even with all these beautiful and heartwarming things, people still tend to kick winter aside.
How could the cold and dreary short days compete with the breezy and cool nights of summer? Winter, the neglected sister of the two seasons, has to find her own way to shine through the snow she buries herself in.
To me, there is nothing more beautiful than the first fall of snow, when it is still so purely white and hasn’t gotten dirty from countless tires and feet trampling it.
There is even an element of beauty in the long winter nights that seem to last forever. With nights so long, it’s almost impossible not to find time to relax.
In the summer, I always find myself chasing the sun, trying to do everything I can before it gets dark out, and burning myself out in the process. But in the winter, I finally get to stay inside and recharge. I use all the extra darkness to read a novel, catch up on a tv show, or even write for my own joy, rather than for school.
In the cold winter, one can be at peace with the little things in life. Without the pressure of making plans with everyone visiting from college over summer, or the commitments of a summer job.
Winter allows me to acknowledge the smaller things in life: the smell of our pine cone Christmas tree, the sound my record player makes when a track starts, and the feeling of a warm sweater on my cold body.
Winter is a time for gratitude. It is a time to nourish yourself in rewards for all the hard work you did all summer long. Especially during the holiday break, one can really find some time to be with themselves and allow themselves to say “I did good this year.”
Even past the Christmas season, winter continues as the season nears its end, soon to be followed by the beloved spring. Many people wait impatiently for the end of winter and to finally be able to smell the flowers and see the green trees again.
While I love the feeling of grass on my bare feet and the sun tanning my skin, I always find it difficult to part ways with winter. The season brings me a comfort that no other can, even when I also start to get a little impatient waiting for the spring.
Something about winter is just special in a way that no other season is. Amidst the cold, snow, and brisk wind; there is something beautiful to be discovered- and that is what makes winter so special: the discoveries that it can bring.