Saturday, December 23, 2023

                                                      The Post-Journal

Experiencing The Joys Of Winter

                                                                                    DEC 23, 2023

ROLLAND KIDDER 

The other day I peeked out the window and saw our grandson playing with the dogs in the snow. It was fun to watch!

He would throw the snow up in the air, they would chase it and their noses and faces were covered. It was an early snow and quite wet, so the snow stuck to the dogs like fleas. He didn’t know I was watching, which made the whole experience even better.

There is a lot about winter, at my age, that you don’t like. Go slower, put more salt down, buy some extra windshield fluid because you know that you are going to run out.

But, we can’t overlook the other side. It brings out a good side in people. The other day, on the way to buy the newspaper in the early morning, I saw that a car had slid off the road. The Sheriff’s Deputy was there with her caution lights blazing so that everyone was aware of the problem.

The person in the car was okay, she was standing at the edge of the road. Another car, a local woman going to work, stopped to help and got the stranded motorist home. No one hurt (except maybe the car in the ditch,) and a public safety official was fully involved–really a beautiful scene. An early winter scene in Chautauqua County.

Winter, of course, is a mixed bag. The woodlands and trees are incredible when clothed in snow. Yet, when on the way to Warren, Pa. for a doctor’s appointment in the middle of the same snow storm, I ruminated: “Why am I doing this?”

Yet, it is all a part of living here in the winter. The bad comes with the good.

Up here on the lake, we tend to measure time not as much by the clock, but by the wildlife on the water. The coots were coming by in droves recently and the ducks with them. The seagulls still left here have been swarming on the lake like bees around a hive. The tundra swans will be coming soon…just before the lake freezes over. Winter is not such a bad thing.

Age brings perspective, but that doesn’t mean that it brings more resilience. When you are my age, you need to be ready when the snow flies and prepare yourself for walking through the slush and snow. Where is the solid ground?

My kids tell me that most of what I write in these articles is read by old people like me. Be that as it may, even old people can appreciate winter. They just have to be more ready for it and plan ahead.

I remember, as a kid, when people put chains on their tires in order to drive in the winter. Thankfully, we don’t have to do that anymore. Yet, we have learned from those “old days,” and I am always sure that our four-wheel-drive family has good tread on their tires before the snow starts to fall.

There really isn’t much of a “tale” in this story except to return again to the change of seasons and the coming on of winter. It can be a beautiful thing or an awful thing…depending on how you look at it.

The good news is that if you are prepared and expecting it, it can be one of the favorite times of the year to live around here.


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