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The Snow Globe Life

I feel like I’m living on the set of the Groundhog Day* movie created inside an endless snow globe world.

I don’t know what happened to me. I used to love winter. In fact, when I was younger, I loved every season. Living in the Midwest is the ideal location for experiencing the full magnificence of each very different season. Warm anticipation begins to build at the first robin sighting of springtime. Tulips and daffodils sprout from the cold earth, grass begins to green, and before you know it trees and flowers are in full bloom. Spring rains come followed by knee-high corn stalks in the fields. Sun is in abundance spreading warmth and happiness to every creature. Leaves then turn from brilliant green to hues of red, yellow, and even purple, just in time to welcome sunsets by campfire while sipping warm caramel apple cider and roasting marshmallows for the perfect s’mores treat. Thanksgiving approaches with cooler weather and flag football among friends young and old. Christmas music and decorations soften the rough patches and winter sneaks in with its white whispers gracing the trees.

Whenever I’d hear somebody dolefully announce, “I hate winter,” my response was “Why?” In my mind, Midwest winters were part of the glory of living here. The cold weather and snow will come just as assuredly as the rain-filled springtime, the sun-filled summertime, and the multi-colored brilliance of autumn. Why torture yourself with hatred of a season that will come regardless of one’s feelings? Why not find a way to enjoy the goodness and beauty that comes with the glistening snow and cooler temperatures? And for many years I truly looked forward to each season, enjoying the changes in weather as they came and went.

Now I gaze at the beautiful snow-globe-filled world through my large picture window in the sunroom, longing for warm sunshine and short sleeve shirts. I miss that younger, more naïve me who could so easily go with the flow no matter what came my way. Daily, I ask myself the same question I used to ask those people I pitied so many years ago. Why waste time loathing the cold and snow? Why allow the dread and discontentment to set in as the temperatures drop? But I don’t have an answer for myself. I wish for winter to pass quickly, or at the very least I wish for a break in the seemingly endless drifts of snow and biting wind.

But there’s no denying the charm that a fresh snowfall adds to life. When it’s not unbearably cold outside, walking through this snow-globe-like world can be magical and even surreal at times. Until the temperatures lift out of the zero’s and teens, I will continue to admire the beauty of winter from behind the window pane. I will try to summon my twenties-something-self to appreciate the season for what it offers. I will admire the contrast of the crimson cardinals against the blanket of white that covers the ground and trees. It won’t be long until the snow begins to melt, and the daffodils and tulips start pushing through the ground. After all, I’ve already heard reports of robin sightings!

* The movie, Groundhog Day, came out in 1993 and starred Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.