The other day I saw a meme that read, “I’m sorry for whatever I said to you during winter.” I laughed because I have a long track record of dreary days eclipsing my mainly sunny disposition. There’s something about the light of the sun that makes everything okay.
Luckily for folks who live in the South, sunny days during the winter are commonplace. That’s what makes people move here, and that’s why I never left. Anytime I had big city dreams of New York or Chicago, the word winter came to mind, and I continued basking in the February sun.
The trick is that these sunny days won’t last. In a week or two, a cold spell will come, and we’ll all grab our coats that we hoped had finished their shift for the year. A snowfall will try to erase any memory of our 70-degree days with its icicles and school closings. But not matter how cold and dark it gets, I will cling to the images of spring-like days just as a bride-to-be would hold the perfect dress at a clearance sale.
Memories of sun rays breaking through trees, trying to get green leaves to make an entrance are what keep me going through the doldrums of winter. Confused cherry blossoms who finally say, “What the heck” as they spread their pink blossoms before Valentine’s Day remind me that the coldness won’t stay. It’s only visiting for a while.
Perhaps that’s where winter does the most good. Maybe it’s sole purpose is to remind us of how much we love basking in the sunlight, so when spring finally does arrive we appreciate it as much as we should.