💾 Archived View for jsreed5.org › log › 2023 › 202311 › 20231128-the-look-of-winter.gmi captured on 2024-02-05 at 09:51:31. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2023-12-28)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
---
As the American Midwest reaches late autumn, the weather steadily becomes colder. The grass yellows, the trees shed their leaves, and the midday shadows slowly get longer as the sun sinks lower in the sky.
My wife and I have lived in the Midwest our entire lives, so we're used to these seasonal changes. I always enjoy them: I know the grass and trees will soon be covered in beautiful white snow, and I look forward to shorter days leading to longer evenings spent with family and friends as we celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The colors of spring and summer are gone, but we make do with the harvests of the warmer seasons, and the cold darkness reminds me of how grateful I am to have the light and warmth of my possessions and the people fear to me.
A few days ago my wife told me that she greatly dislikes the changes that occur in autumn. She hates seeing the leaves fall and the trees become bare; the yellow grass depresses her; the empty farm fields and flower beds feel lacking. She told me she'd much rather see the plants remain full and green, while snow simply fell on top of it.
I understand her sentiments, but I have trouble picturing trees full of green leaves with snow on them. I've seen freak snowstorms in mid-October falling on trees with yellow or orange leaves, but never green. The sight of bare trees is so synonymous with winter for me that I can't imagine the season looking any other way.
Another interesting phenomenon happens when the trees lose their leaves. Because the bare branches are easy to see through, I can see many things from ground level that I normally can't. A stroll through local parks reveals far-off buildings and natural features, sometimes several miles away. I love looking farther through these leafless trees and noticing where landmarks are located relative to each other, sometimes in ways I didn't expect.
I grew up watching the British television show "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends". In those days the show used model railroads, and winter episodes differentiated themselves by putting fake snow on the sets. Model trees still had their leaves, and the ground had green grass and flowers. I remember finding it quite odd, since nature didn't look that way in winter. Little did I know that many decades later, my wife would prefer that look over reality.
---
[Last updated: 2023-11-28]