Winter

When I was a kid winter hit in late October, or early November if you were lucky, and lasted until late April, generally. I was 5 in 1978 when we had the big blizzard, but I remember every winter seemed like a blizzard to me back then. 

Seems like in the late 80's winter started to get more mild. In recent years it was normal to have a New Year thaw in January and just a few more snow falls that didn't really add up to much. Some years we even had a green Christmas.

 This year however seems like a corner has been turned and we are experiencing a winter more like those of my youth. Which is kind of funny in a way as that is how I feel the cycles of my life have gone. Not that I feel I will be returning to the violent storms of my childhood, but I have a greater understanding of the rest and rebuilding time that winter provides for nature and that sometimes a hard freeze is needed to kill the nasty bugs that can cause diseases. Oh but lots of fun can be had when the snowfall is plentiful enough, snowmobiling, skiing, and sled riding, as well as snowball fights, snowman building and snow angles all remind us that the fun of life can be found in all our seasons.