We recently participated in a lantern walk which was happening across the country to “welcome winter”. Sophia was delighted by the real flame of her lantern tea light, which she carried around the perimeter of the pond. I appreciated the opportunity to celebrate something I make conscious efforts not to dread. I love the changing of the seasons but, like many, struggle with the length of winter.
We unhooked the hammock from the front porch, and things I find satisfying during warmer weather, like walking to school and hanging the laundry on the line will be traded for indoor activities.
Another signifier of cooler weather was the rolling out of our living room rug, which we had tucked behind the couch in the spring when the floor didn’t require warming. Both children enjoyed the production of moving all of the furniture and witnessing a flood of red wool consume the wood.
Sophia quickly determined that this seemingly new open space was a stage. It was the window of time after dinner and before bedtime which we stretched longer than usual to enjoy being together on the couch while watching our daughter and son perform a mix of dancing, yoga, singing and storytelling.
I am ready to welcome more of the ‘rolling out the rug’ nights that winter brings. When that first snow comes we will drink hot chocolate while it falls and do it again every day it falls (I will have to keep reminding Sophia that we only do this when snow is actually falling, not every day that it is simply on the ground). We will curl up under blankets in front of fires and read the entire stack of library books in one sitting. We will bake with cinnamon to make the house smell good, because we will be spending quite a bit of time in this home over the next few months.
Come March we will be itching to shed our sweaters, but in November, and for as long as we can, we will savor what this season brings. The season of cold days inside a warm house with a four and two year old enchanted by the rolling out of rugs.
