IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER

Midwinter Ice Stones, Greensboro, NC
Midwinter Sunflower Field, Jamestown, NC
Midwinter Golf Course, Summerfield, NC
Midwinter Lake Home, Jamestown, NC

Christina Rossetti wrote the haunting opening lyrics to the poem and subsequent hymn “In the Bleak Midwinter” about our Savior’s birth at the turn of the twentieth century:

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone,
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Those lyrics have always struck home with me during the fallow season of harsh winds and freezing temperatures when all nature pauses with the promise of Easter resurrection. There are beautiful images of winter all around us during this season, but I’ve always found it to be a bit melancholy when I’m around areas that represent so much vibrant life during the growing season. The spray blowing off of a fountain in a small park lake slowly encrusts once flourishing grass blades as the temperature drops below freezing. The memory of summer sunflowers stands in stark contrast to the bowed remnants that remain with a fresh covering of frozen snow on snow.

It’s always a bit nostalgic when I’m walking on the fairway of a once lush green golf course and witnessing the dormant tan remnants of Bermuda grasses. And the mood is dark and bleak when you’re standing on the dock of a frozen lake that was recently alive with jet skis and swimmers as a frigid north wind chases waves of snow across the frozen surface.

But the bleak weather remains an excellent time to hunker down inside and catch up on projects left for these cold midwinter days while savoring a cup of hot tea or chocolate.