Early in December we had (for this region) a MAJOR storm which affected life's ebb and flow in many ways. Gratefully, there was no 'White Christmas'. And, now the Weather Channel and local meteorologists are saying 'Here comes another Winter Event'. This time, though, the prospect is more for ice than for snow. If that proves the case, now what . . . ? Slick roads, downed trees and power lines, delays, missed appointments, who knows what else.
It occurs to me that I have never heard a song entitled "In the Good Old Wintertime" ! This is not the first time that I have lamented about the rigors of Winter on these posts but, good grief, each new blast feels like both an initial shock and an accumulation of frigidity.
Some might counsel 'compare your weather to that in other parts of the world.' Yep, New England where my brother lives is a refrigerator from November to April or May. Today's news carries stories about major blizzards in Europe. Comparisons, however, have somewhat limited shelf life. I remember a cartoon from Bill Mauldin's World War II book, Up Front. Willie and Joe, the quintessential infantrymen, are in a foxhole and bullets are flying overhead. One turns to the other and says, "The h*** this isn't the most important foxhole in the world. I'm in it !" Winter weather 'events' usually are not comparable to combat experiences and I do not intend to be callous towards storms endured in other places.
Just hold on !! Spring's coming. At least, it always has.
Satchel
OK, here I have to chastise you a bit. Since I know you do work with folks who have psychological problems ... and who doesn't have them at times ... you know as well as I that how a person approaches a problem has a big impact on how you deal with it and how it ultimately has an effect on the person. As a businessman, I have frequently found the old adage of looking at a problem as an opportunity to be true.
ReplyDeleteWe too are under a storm prediction situation as I write ... and we are looking forward to it. No, certainly not all of us ... maybe even WAY less than half of us. But I'd suggest that the open minds many of us had when we were youngsters were apparently lost along the way when we reach the point where routine and kept appointments is valued so highly.
As a former professor, I always had my class schedule packed with what I thought was "good stuff" for my students. Yet we had missed days with a closed university at times, yet I cannot recall a single case when one of my students was the worst for it.
My wife, a thin Kansas gal, at first hated the cold weather of my home state of Wisconsin when we'd go there as part of our Christmas celebration. Then she began to note how most there embrace the winter and feel shorted when they do NOT get heavy snow and sub-zero weather. Slowly, her attitude changed.
This year, the weather was moderate ... hitting 55 on the drive up. She was glad the weather was nice for driving, but REALLY was happy when a few days later we received 6 inches of snow and that was the evening we drove about looking at Christmas lights with the world looking magical.
Carpe Diem!