Chill

A series of cloudy, chilly, damp days is the perfect signal that it's time to curl up indoors for the winter. The weather explains everything. Once upon a time people understood that, but these days we prefer to ignore it so we can carry on with all our big plans and activities.

Why must we humans always be so busy? When lions and bears don't have to work (i.e. hunt), they lie around, play, nap. I guess we're more like bees or ants, always in the process of constructing or deconstructing the environment around us.

Even so, once upon a time, the coming of winter meant that people slowed down, slept longer, and did a lot more sitting around than was their habit in spring, summer or the harvest in fall. Another thing they did that we still do at this time of year was gather together for good cheer and to help cultivate a positive attitude as the solar year wound its way down to the longest night.

Summer was so hot this year, and went on so long, was such an over-busy time for me, that by mid-October, I realized I had completely forgotten the sensation of being cold. But now I remember, as of today. It's not freezing out there, just chilly enough to make me want a cup of tea, a chapter of my book, rather than a long walk around the neighborhood.

Not a problem! Tea is good, reading is good, being attuned to the season at hand is good. Now, back to my book.