Beginning of February - A Chill Winter

It's almost unreal... how these last few winter months have neglected to engage in what they are known to do best. There is this creeping suspicion that each year the winters become less and less hostile and more mild. It's unsettling knowing that soon, some years down the line, this may become the norm. Still, there are two sides to every story (or feelings in this case). Who doesn't love days where you can freely walk about and not feel the full blast of negative degree winds pushing on your face? Feel the numbness and see the red fill the parts of your exposed body? I know I enjoy the mildness but honestly, it doesn't feel right.

Observing this "chill" winter at my place of employment, the day is bright, vibrant, and sunny. The temperature is holding steadily at a semi-comfortable number and the snow that had once fallen a few weeks back is now almost gone. A long row of seemingly dead but sleeping trees wait for the warmer months to once again sport their gowns of emerald leaves. A large mess of tangled and twisted bushes and shrubs make up the underbelly of the trees that lie in dormant.

I sit on a solid slab of pavement that stretches behind me and veers to the right in front of me. A ring of cold, somewhat dirty snow yet to melt in the 40 degree sunlight curves on the edge of the now exposed grass. It provides the only source of white in this landscape of brown, blue, and green. 

Up in the sky, many miles from the muddy, damp ground, an airplane peeks over the veiny-looking branches of the trees. The sky is clear and completely cloudless. The sky is an ocean of light blue. As the rumble of soundwaves generated from the plane hits my ears, I begin to wonder where the aircraft is going. Who is onboard? What kind of aircraft could it be? What do the passengers think of this cloudless mild day? If only it was easy to find out the answers.

Additional noise is coming from the nearby I-690. Car engines and the sounds of rubber wheels hitting the hard asphalt makes for a low hum which cannot be halted or unheard. At this instant, everything seems calm and peaceful, the world continues to spin and another day is about to be logged in Mother Nature's journal. The drama of everyday life seems to disappear and real bliss would be being able to cement myself in this moment.