The Beauty of a Harsh Winter

Ice and snow.

This has been a busy winter for mother nature here in southeast Idaho and I really do feel like I moved to the north pole. Several feet of snow, cold wind blowing snow drifts everywhere, temperatures in the -20's, and icicles as tall as me in some places. This little Nevada girl is not sure what to think.

However, when the sun comes out on days that aren't full of a blizzard wind, it is beautiful. Everything sparkles and comes alive, even friends and neighbors come out of their homes and seem much more friendly when they say, 'hello', because we are all so grateful for a break from the storm!

When I think about winter now, I understand why the word harsh is used so frequently to describe it. Winter is bitter and painful, and it doesn't seem to care for anyone or any creature in its path.

I was thinking about all of this today as I was collaging and I found a correlation. It's the harshness and pain from our challenges that create the magic that comes after.

Because what would the world be like without winter snow? Dry, desert, barren. We need the snow for our survival, even if in the moment we think we would do just fine without it. It's the water that brings the green in the spring and summer months. It's the water that fills the lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. The cold seems unnecessary, the winter storms feel terrible in the moment. After the pain of winter comes the beauty of spring.

Even when we create, it's the ugly, awful parts of it that lead us to the better, beautiful moments. We have to have them, we have to work through them, and we need that challenge to discover what we can do. If you gave up and walked away, you never know what you could do.

So for as much as I don't always like the snow or ice or blizzards, if I can just remember the magic they bring then I think just maybe I can make it through the rest of this winter.​