Meg Dowell Writes

Dearest Winter,

If I was a naturally kindhearted person with morals, I would say nice things about you. I would tell you that your breath is as refreshing as toothpaste and that your clothes are beautiful in all of their varieties of colors. I would tell you that your presence brings joy to me and everyone else I know, in such ways that cannot be explained with words. I would be sure to let you know, Winter, that the day you will temporarily depart from my life will be the saddest of the year. I will wipe frozen tears from my eyes and watch you go; silently; smoothly; yet so very suddenly.

But let’s be honest here, Winter. Everything about you turns my smile upside down. My fingers freeze as I wait for the bus and my feet slip on the ice and snow you leave behind as you hover over me. You turn the sky gray and sprinkle small flakes of ugly on my many layers of clothing. You take away the tan that Summer brought to me that once made my skin glow. You’re loud and obnoxious and you breathe your ice-cold breath down my neck. You cause me to shiver and to curse your existance on an hourly basis.

Yet, you give me something to look forward to.

I will admit this: the day the first snow falls–before the slippery roads and subzero temperatures swirl around your enemies–one last smile shines on my face before hibernation begins. Your snowflakes are hand-crafted; not one is identical to another. Your creations sparkle in the sunlight as they fall and give me a little glimmer of hope. “This year,” I say, “you will bless me somehow.”

As the months drag on, I think of spring. I think of green grass and chirping birds. I think of the few months left of school and the teperatures rising again. As I sit in my room in late January and stare out of my window, somehow, I see a little spot of blue in all of the gray clouds above me. I am reminded that you’re here for a reason. Though you nip at my cheeks and turn my lips blue, I know you mean well.

For, if you didn’t rid us of the old, there would be no room for the new.