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In many parts of the country, of course, Winter is already here. But I live in North Carolina — Sunday I didn’t even need a coat.
However — the seasons are changing. Darkness comes earlier and stays later. My A/C is off and has been replaced by my furnace. I have been lighting my gas fireplace to take the chill off.
Pansies — the official winter flower of the south — have been planted.
Ned Stark of Game Of Thrones fame always made this pronouncement with the same despair as one would announce the end of civilization. Armageddon. The arrival of the Anti-Christ. The. End. Is. Near.
But it’s not. It’s just Life, changing Her wardrobe.
Our mistake is not recognizing this and rebelling against Her fashion sense.
Winter in the northern hemisphere is darkness and cold. It is made for long nights of hibernation and sitting by fireplaces. Hot cocoa with a bit of a something extra thrown in to warm your insides up a degree or so. It is a time to slow down and rest. A time to give all our parts — mind/body/spirit/soul — the long winter’s nap she so richly deserves.
Even in the midst of the coming holiday festivities, we can be wiser this season. We can choose only that which brings us peace and joy. We can politely decline that which adds stress…
