Wintertime Whisperings

                      Wintertime Whisperings
                                                     ~For Tramway Elementary 3rd Graders~

 I am a DixieDingo.  As such, I am accustomed to and appreciate the way our southern summer season spills beyond its borders.  I like the fact that temperate mornings, hot middays, and sultry evenings mark most of our days from May to November.  In fact, if it weren’t for the brilliant color change of the leaves, I would scarcely recognize the arrival of fall.  But winter, when it comes, I notice right away.  It seems to arrive overnight.  One toasty afternoon I’m frolicking with Daddy in the yard; the next morning I awake to a sharp nip in the air that takes my doggy breath away. While the day before seemed filled with light, the one that follows turns to twilight just hours after sunrise!   It takes me a few days to fully accept the reality that warm weather and long days have been fully replaced by cold and darkness.

            But, you know me; I always look for the upside to everything.  Despite my initial reluctance, I have to admit winter has its pleasant aspects.  While I love the rich hues of the foliage, grasses, and flowers of summer; there is a striking beauty to the stark leafless braches etched across an overcast sky.  Even the now barren park takes on a certain charm when the landscape is dotted by people wearing the bright colors of coats, mittens, and scarves.

            And, no one can deny the splendor of a clear night sky in wintertime.  Is it just me, or do the stars sparkle with more brilliance this time of year?  Dingoes are often called, “upside down dingoes,” and it is from this perspective that I take in this spectacular view.  I can get so lost in the Milky Way that I forget the frigid temperature for a while.

            It is also on these clear, cold nights that I realize that even sound is more crystal clear.  I enjoy hearing the train as it rumbles trough Cameron miles away from me.  I close my eyes and try to imagine who might be traveling this night and to where.  I wonder if there is a little doggy like myself going on an adventure with his or her people.  I smile when I picture them all cozy in their boxcars.

            The low temperature of winter is not my favorite.  While I am not a fan of the frost-covered fur, I do like the way mama’s warm puffy coat envelops my whole body when she hugs me.  And, nothing is as relaxing as being curled up beside a crackling fire.  Surely dingoes in this region have sought out spots beside human hearths for thousands of years, napping in comfort and companionship.  Early explorers in this area noted the presence of my canine ancestors in the camps of Native Americans here.  No wonder I love people so; they have always shared their love and warmth with my family!

            Wintertime even boasts its own wonderful smells and tastes.  I can’t explain it, but I love the smell of smoke curling off a burning pile of leaves or billowing out of a chimney.  It has that homey, rustic kind of scent.  My people smell good, too.  I’ve noticed that Mama smells of holiday candles and fresh cedar lately.  I like that!  Brother Tommy and Cousin Cody have the scent of Christmas cookies on their breath.  I especially like that smell when they share.  After all, cookie breath is best when I’m the one that has it.  The glorious tastes of the season include not only baked goods, but the scrumptious meat scraps that inevitably follow big family get-togethers.  I’m smiling, and drooling, just thinking about it.

            No commentary on winter would be complete without reference to frozen precipitation.  I love to pounce and snow is the perfect substance for that activity.  Not to mention how it can transform a brown, bare landscape into a magical wonderland in just a few hours.  I am even mesmerized by the beauty left in the wake of a freezing rain.  I am able to appreciate all this, of course, because I cannot drive.

  Mama says she counts the first daffodil she sees every year as her “herald of springtime.”  Admittedly, I plan to help her keep a lookout for one.  But, for now, I am content to concentrate on the unique experiences of this time of year and embrace them.  Summertime shouts, “Enjoy life!”  Wintertime whispers it, but I hear it just the same.