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“Spring, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition.”

This is my latest post ever, but I had a busy morning then I had to do some errands and then I needed to rest up from the morning drudgery. The sun is still among the missing. I saw my doctor today for my annual physical, and she put me on vitamin D pills; instead, I should wear one of those light hats the people in Northern Exposure wore during the winter to stave off SAD. I’m beginning to envy the bears who sleep through the cold, sunless days of winter though I have noticed the days stay lighter longer now. That helps to lift a bit of the pall of winter. I know that better days are coming, but I’m impatient.

The birds were back in full force this morning. I watched them for a while and was glad to see my chickadees. Their usual spots had been usurped by the goldfinches. All four feeders were busy. Only one spawn of Satan dropped by, and he didn’t have any luck. I had left a few seeds on the deck, but the spawn missed them.

Other than school days in winter when it was too dark or cold, we used to play outside all the time. We had this boundless energy from being cooped up all day in a classroom, and my mother was forever shooing us out the door. She wanted peace and quiet, and it didn’t include us. My younger sisters stayed closer to home. Often they played dolls on the back steps. I was on my bike roaming or playing games with kids in the neighborhood. We played red light, hide and seek, kick ball, tag and red rover and so many more I don’t remember. We never needed much equipment, just a ball would do for most games.

My neighborhood was teeming with kids of every age. It was quiet only at night after bedtime. In winter a barking dog might break the silence of the night, but in summer you could hear TV’s from the neighbors’ living rooms and people talking. I still remember lying in bed and falling asleep to the murmur of voices. It was a comforting sound.

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6 Comments on ““Spring, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition.””

  1. RHMathis's avatar RHMathis Says:

    March 1, 2011 at 7:54 pm

    “I still remember lying in bed and falling asleep to the murmur of voices. It was a comforting sound.”

    Many’s the time I went to sleep while listening to the noisy and distinctive sound of dominoes being shuffled and the talk around the table as hand after hand and game after game of “42” was played when I was a kid. It seemed then that the noises were hypnotic. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t hear them for long before making that journey beyond the dark to the land of dreams.

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      March 1, 2011 at 9:53 pm

      RH,
      I know exactly how that is-the voices seem loud enough to be heard then they seem to get quieter and quieter until they disappear all together.

  2. Bob's avatar Bob Says:

    March 1, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    It’s not like that anymore. Today the kids are all glued to their computers and X-Box screens. Facebook and text messaging has surpassed playing. The windows of all the houses are all shut and the sound of the central air-conditioners is the only sound in the neighborhood streets.
    When I was a kid in New York we opened the windows in the summer at night to let the breeze blow through the house. When we moved to Texas we bought our first air-conditioner in 1953. Kids stayed inside in the cool or played at the pool. I guess it’s the curse of the sunbelt. And the curse brought forth TV, which begot, video games, which begot computers and cell phones.

    • katry's avatar katry Says:

      March 1, 2011 at 9:55 pm

      Bob,
      We have little kids on the street again. The first batch grew up and had their own children. Young families moved in; we have 6 kids under 6 and a couple of pre-teens. They are the ones I never see or hear-too busy with everything electronic.

  3. Christer.'s avatar olof1 Says:

    March 2, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    The sun showed itself today and it will stay for a while they say, It´s getting a bit warmer during the days too now 🙂

    They say that all these computer games activates kids imaginations but I doubt that. They just don´t seem to know how to play outdoors any longer. If the computer isn´t on, neither are they.

    I loved falling asleep to the murmur of voices and usually the smell of coffee :-)Now it would probably drive me mad 🙂 🙂 I would get to interested in what they were talking about so it would make it impossible to fall asleep 🙂

    Have a great day now!
    Christer.

  4. Kat's avatar Kat Says:

    March 3, 2011 at 12:56 am

    Christer,
    It was 46° this morning and will be 12° by morning. They’re calling it the big freeze.

    I agree with you about computer games. Kids don’t let their imaginations run wild with simple stuff any more.

    I love waking up to the smell of coffee.


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