Enjoying the Cold Weather

by June Shaw

Will some of you throw things at me if I tell you I really enjoy our cold weather?

There are many benefits. You can curl up inside and read more books. Here's another one: Grab onto or find yourself a partner and snuggle up with him or her. Or even your pet dog or cat or some other critter. You can enjoy soups and gumbos and chili con carne and more enticing hot foods you wouldn't even look at in summer's steamy temperatures. You can don layers of various warm clothes that get little wear for most of the year.

And today I've gotten to see something that brought me back to my childhood--icicles! Many of them are hanging on my patio. Some also created an icy web on branches of my tall dead nearby bush. I grabbed my camera and heavy robe and dashed outside this morning to snap pictures. All day long the icicles brought back sweet childhood memories of when temperatures were colder, and my mom would often say, "Y'all wake up. There are icicles hanging on the garage." What a sight to see!

Yes, you may live in the frigid North, where snow has gripped you and held you housebound and created major problems in your life. If so, I truly am sorry.

But I live in the Deep South, a little southwest of New Orleans, and years go by between the time we might witness a snowflake or icy web on our plants or roofs. I relish being able to stay inside, read a book and write on another one while glancing out once in a while to see if a white flake might swirl. It's eight in the evening, and so far, not one. I still am, however, able to look out my window and enjoy being brought back in time. Now if we only still had a toasty floor furnace that I could stand on.