It's Autumn's Transition to Winter ~ by Grace Augustine

photo courtesy Wikipedia

In 1906, songwriters Gustav Holst and Robert W. Smith penned lyrics to a holiday tune that has become one of my favorites, especially living in the Midwest. The song, In the Bleak Mid-Winter, is based on a poem written by the English poet, Christina Rossetti.

As I sit here (Nov. 6th) looking out my sliding glass door, it is overcast, temperatures have dropped from the balmy 50 degrees of this morning to a slightly cooler 40-feels-like-31, a slight breeze is rustling through the few leaves remaining on the trees. 

Though the grass is a bright emerald green, no bright spots of color

photo courtesy DIY

appear…my urban garden that was so lush and beautiful two short months ago, are now nothing but empty cinder blocks, gray like the sky, like my mood.

Autumn was short-lived this year. We’ve had two snowfalls—one measuring 3.2” and two days later 5.8”. Temperatures are to drop by Monday to a high of only twenty degrees with a low of fifteen at night.

As I huddle under my blanket with my cup of hot cider, I give

photo courtesy Rustic and Glam Designs

thanks for so much: a warm, safe place to live, sweet Bou, children who love me, and the ability to watch the seasons change. I love the cooler weather and what it brings…anticipation of snow, of winter, of the bustle of the holidays.

I will leave you with the first verse of this Christmas Carol, because it is so very appropriate for today.

“In the bleak midwinter

Frosty wind made moan

Earth stood hard as iron

Water like a stone

Snow had fallen

Snow on snow on snow

In the bleak midwinter

Long, long ago.”

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