Cold air, leafless trees, short days and long nights – winter tends to bring me down no matter what year it is. But even in this apparently bleak season, there is beauty to behold. If we look to nature, we find there is life and light even on the darkest days.
Verdant color is added to the landscape by conifers, rhododendrons, laurels, and ferns. Snow and ice may cover everything in a white, crystalline blanket. Chickadees and nuthatches visit bird feeders. Herds of deer trot through the forest. Flocks of snow geese fly through the air. A great blue heron wades in the water of a local pond. The heron’s silhouette stands against the backdrop of an orange and pink sunset.
Though the nights are long, the sky is filled with beautiful celestial bodies. Saturn, Jupiter and Mars are clearly seen as they roam across the blackness of space. The constellations Orion, Auriga and Gemini are magnificent collections of luminous stars. In Canis Major there is Sirius – the brightest star in the night sky in any season.
No matter how grim human existence may seem, the beauty of nature helps to heal and enrich the soul. Immersing oneself in nature even in winter can bring solace to a troubled spirit. As Henry David Thoreau once said, “There can be no very black melancholy for him who has his senses still and lives in the midst of nature.”
Great imagery in this piece.
Thanks Mark!