by Dr. Paine » Thu Dec 31, 2020 9:31 am
username: Dr. Paine
floc name: Novannos (‘Ann’) - derived from annus novus, ‘new year’ in Latin.
something about winter:
Well, this seems pretty open ended, so I’m just going to ramble wildly here for a paragraph or two! Winter’s just my jam, and it’s hard to narrow down anything in particular that’s like... amazing or special about it, any sort of ‘fun fact’ type thing would just feel a bit hollow? So I hope it’s okay to just share some memories & thoughts of what winter’s always meant to me- certainly not universal, but here’s what you get from someone who’s never lived further south than Ohio xD
Winger is... I hesitate saying ‘favorite’ season, but it’s the one I find I resonate with the most. It’s a time of rest and renewal, of a sense of peace- in my experience & opinion, anyway! There’s a sense of it there that runs deeper than in the other seasons, I’ve found- stepping out into a cold, clear night can push near every stress away for a little while, there’s nothing but a chill bite in your nose and lungs and the sky above- I’ve been lucky enough to live in places with fairly good sky views, and nothing compares to a clear winter’s night for feeling like you could just reach up and catch a star or two. (Not to knock certain cloudy nights- we had one just last night with very high, thin clouds around a full moon that produced an absolutely stunning halo!) There is Also little so peaceful as being able to step outside during a snowfall- when the wind is down and it’s just falling steady, the way you can hear it but at the same time, everything is all muffled and soft, close and distant, a familiar landscape turned into something new in such a little time. Even ice, as... very unpleasantly painful and damaging as it can get, is downright breathtaking when it’s coated a tree and the sun comes out, turning it into just... a spectacle, really. There was a small tree in front of the house I lived in as a kid, and I’ve never quite forgotten the time there had been an ice storm that left it coated in a shell about an inch thick, crystal clear... which made an incredible prism- for a while it stopped just being a tree, and seemed like some enchanted crystal, I’ve always considered it one of those... ‘magic in the mubdane’ situations.
Winter, to me, is also just... a time of hope, even more so than spring. The solstice sees a return of longer days, many holidays do go and bring out a better side of many people, encouraging them to go out and try to make others happy in a way that’s just not quite present the rest of the year; one that always makes me think of just... what it takes to survive, I suppose? How it taps into that feeling of a gift that could be a genuine life saver, of recognizing your success and luck and using it to ensure the safety and well-being (or simply just happiness) of others. There is also, of course, the new year (... by Gregorian calendar standards anyway xD)! Arbitrary? Perhaps. But there is something undeniable about that turning over from the 31st to the 1st, of writing in a new year’s number for the first time, that gives a little psychological boost and refresh that’s hard to match; its that sense of here is a new time, another chance, a fresh (or at least, fresh feeling) start. Plus... hey, I am a winter kid xD Early February is right around the heart of the season, so maybe that’s got something to do with it, I was born in winter & it’s just always had that bit of a hold.
I would love to have one of these baby's)
