Missing Winter Already

Joni Mitchell said it well. You don’t know what you’ve got 'till it’s gone. Believe it or not, I miss winter, just a little.

I know, I know. Whine, whine, whine. Yes, I am thrilled spring is finally here and I wouldn’t step back a month for anything, but there are a few things I will miss now that Jack Frost has gone on vacation. Things like:

Tending a woodstove fire each evening from dusk till bedtime.

Sipping my hot chocolate and Kahlua nightcap.

Seeing the contours of the ridge through open woods.

Working outside the house without the need for tick gaiters.

Gazing at the incredible night sky through the leafless trees.

Warming the house with only the sunlight streaming through the southern windows during the day.

Sleeping under cozy quilts in a chilly bedroom.

Having green plants throughout the house, before they are returned outdoors with the spring.

Fishing the frigid mountain streams, with the quiet beauty of winter around me.

Of course, Spring brings its own joys, as do summer and fall, but winter’s pleasures are still fresh in my mind and I’m sad to be putting them away. But winter will be back, in time. And when it is, I’ll probably miss fall.

You don’t know what you’ve got 'till it’s gone.