Last fall I planted some Aspen on the south side of my house. I want to look out the window and see them year round.....this is what they look like in winter. The night air creates the most beautiful artwork. This is a small branch on one of the trees.
On cold winter days like this I think of the quote from Christopher Robbins, when he talked to Winnie the Pooh. It goes like this:
“If ever there is a tomorrow when we're not together, there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart -- I'll always be with you.”
I sometimes think of the people who settled in this area many years ago. They must have been very brave to live here in the winter without a home as warm as mine. They surely said things like this to each other. They must have been so cold. They would have had trees to cut down and logs to prepare to make their homes. They built barns and sheds and took care of their animals in subzero temperatures.
The water in the creeks and canals would have been frozen and they would need to break the ice to get water for their homes and animals. Those early settlers would not have had indoor plumbing and would be going outside and getting water for nearly every thing. For cooking and doing dishes. To do the laundry. And they would have out houses for their bathrooms.
So, as I find great beauty in Jack Frost and his handiwork I never forget what it must have been at one time for someone else. No matter how many times the talented Jack Frost shows me his handiwork, I marvel at it. Each snow flake, each ice crystal, each winter morning brings me such delight in seeing the art work.
A couple of days ago, my DH made the comment "I sure am glad I don't have 16 cows to milk tonight".
He would have been about 8 years old at the time he did that. They didn't have the modern milkers that the farmers use today. Back then, he had his "two little hands" and I shutter to think of him doing that. I know that he wouldn't have had a warm coat, or good gloves. Probably not even good shoes, let alone warm boots. How did that little boy do it? He was braver than he thought he believed he was, he was smarter than he thought he was, and he was stronger than he seemed. How I love that little boy, who grew to the man I know today.
But, because of the doing of it, it made him into the man he is today. He is a hard worker. He doesn't shun work. He doesn't procrastinate when he has work to do, even if it means going outside and being in the cold. He has grown into a dedicated, wonderful, hard worker.
On days like today, when it is -11 degrees outside, but with the windchill factor it feels like -22 I am thankful we don't have even 1 cow to milk. I am thankful I have 3 indoor bathrooms to chose from. I am thankful I can turn on a water faucet and have hot water immediately. I am so grateful for all the luxuries I enjoy and I don't take them for granted.
So, as soon as I finish here, I am going to get a drink of water from the faucet, make me some lunch, and eat it by the fire....the fire that I only have to flip a switch to start.....and sit down and relax and feast my eyes on the handiwork of Jack Frost, all the while holding hands with the man I love with all my heart, my DH!
Beautiful!! I wish you could have seen the hoarfrost on my two weeping willows tismorning! You would have been in heaven!!
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