Privacy of Winter

“There is a privacy about winter which no other season gives you …..
In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each
other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet
stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.”
- Ruth Stout




At the end of the street I walk on, I come to Highway 99 West. This portion of Hwy 99 was constructed in 1926. Highway 99 is a major highway in the West, from San Diego to Seattle.  Interstate 5 replaced Highway 99.


 
The nearby Shasta Yolla Bolly mountains are covered with snow. We rarely get any snow in the valley where I live.


 
The almond orchards will be in full bloom in February. 


The prune plum orchards have yet to flower.
 

"Timeless thoughts of a winter’s stare;
eyes gazing over a landscape bare.
Memories drift on a blustery breeze;
dying light ushers in the freeze.
Reaching out for a grasp on the present;
stillness sets in, alone, and desolate.
Future unknown, outcome uncertain;
brilliance shadowed by a drawn curtain.
Path now set, laid before me known;
closing light now emanating from home.
Enter my homestead, heart filled with glee;
two eyes of the future peering upward at me.
Trusting in him to forge forward until fulfilled;
Basis of strength, values I have instilled.
A wary mind at last permitted to rest;
reflecting on the realization of how I am blessed.
-  Michael A. Barron, Winter's Epiphany    

 

"Winter is the time for comfort - it is the time for home."
-  Edith Sitwell