Winter Wonderland?

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." -- Mark Twain

I would like to rewrite Twain's famous statement: "The warmest summer I ever spent was a winter in Santa Clarita." Folks, it is 80 degrees today. I am wearing a t-shirt, skirt and sandals. Where did winter go? My roses, recently pruned for their supposed winter rest cycle, are showing little growths that will turn into branches. Perhaps this is weird, but I'm not ready for those bushes to bear flowers, yet. I want them to stay barren and plain. I do not want to let go of cold weather. How can I explain my behavior?

Two weeks ago we were in the throes of snow right here in Santa Clarita. The last time it snowed here (and stuck to the ground) was nearly 20 years ago! So for those of us West Coasters used to warm winters, the unexpected flurry was all the buzz! Here is a picture of my castle "covered" in snow! Woo hoo! It was an exciting way to bring in the new year. That day I happened to be driving home from an outing to the Staples Center (Clippers lost, nothing new) when I couldn't believe my eyes. The mountains were covered in a layer of soft white snow. My son and his friend were asleep on the ride home, and when I woke them up to see the spectacle, both boys (nineteen years old) were like little kids with their exclamations and ooohhs and aahhs. My son said, "snow makes everything look nice, even these mountains."

I love winter for selfish reasons. Less gardening to do. On a blistery day, what else is there to do but go see a movie or read a good book? Baking (one of my hobbies) is much more fun when it's cold outside. Perhaps it is because I have never had to dig myself out of several feet of snow, that my idealized winter vision is appealing. My family moved to California from Detroit, Michigan -- I was born in the middle of a snow storm there, in fact -- when I was only two years old. I remember seeing my mother's winter coat in the closet. To a child's eyes, that coat looked like a bear. I used to tell my mother how much I wished we still lived in Michigan. She would smile and tell me I didn't know how lucky I was to be in a warmer climate.

My ancestors were Russian, as well, and endured many an extreme winter. Perhaps my yearning for a cold season is in my blood.

I always associate winter, however, with the metaphysical principle of "potentiality." Deepak Chopra writes, "all of creation, everything that exists in the physical world, is the result of the unmanifest transforming itself into the manifest." When I look at a tree in winter that has lost all of its leaves, for example, all I see is bare branches. But within a few months, the tree will change and show its beauty. I think of people in the same way. Sometimes we might feel as if our lives have hit a wall, or we get into a "funk." We can't see into the future, so all that we see at the moment are the things that are going wrong. We might think that the situation or the bad feelings that we harbor will never change. But with a little work, sunshine, the right attitude, our lives can transform.

When you see a caterpillar, do also see a butterfly?

I need the winter to hibernate, take time to self-reflect, and retreat into my little cocoon. I prune my life, just as I prune my roses every January. I am also a believer that the winters, or hard times, in our lives make us stronger. There is a quote by Anne Bradstreet, a poet who lived in New England in the 1600s: "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

What better an expert on enduring harsh winters than a Puritan woman living in Colonial New England!