The Dread of Winter

October is my favorite month of the year and I try really hard to enjoy it. I have to "try" because, from the depths of my mind, right where I've tried to bury it, frequently comes this realization that Autumn won't last long and a furious Winter will follow. I dread Winter more than I dread going back to work after vacation. When I'm on vacation (I'm trying to remember what that's like), I'm always trying really hard to enjoy it even though the thought of returning to work keeps surfacing (I must add here that I have a good job and I'm thankful for it; I'd just prefer to decide for myself what to do all day).

On a recent afternoon I was thinking along these lines when I realized that Winter will come with or without me. This was profound. I will either be here to "enjoy" it, or I'll be dead and in Heaven (not a bad alternative, really). Of course the other option is to be somewhere Winter isn't, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. So, if I want to see this story of my life all the way through, I will have to be here for at least several more Winters.

I guess if I'm going to be here, I might as well enjoy the hot cocoa, the Christmas season, and the Super Bowl while trying to bury that thought of slogging through the slush and driving snow, and that's just to get the mail.