This time of year always brings out my inner bear ready for hibernation.
Although this can be the time of year for bright lights, big parties, and excessive shopping, I find that all the noise makes me pull inward rather than tempting me out of my hobbit hole.
Instead, I turn to the quiet beauty of an unexpected snow storm that turns the city into a giant snow globe, with fat snowflakes kissing the landscape and reminding its inhabitants that winter is a time for hibernation--quiet reflection, joyous introversion.
I relish the hush in the streets, the tree branches coated in velvet snow, the sky a crisp, clear turquoise. I look forward to the pot of rosemary and rose hip tea that I drink as I dress my holiday tree, the sharp scent of pine filling my home and making me long for a day of snowshoeing.
Others try to tempt me from my home with office parties or noisy shopping trips to malls, but my inner bear keeps telling me hibernate, hibernate.
I fully give into my guilty pleasure of introversion, finally, when I see the temperature won't be above 16 degrees for most of the day and that another snow storm promises to grace the city soon. It is too cold to go out for cocktails; the streets might be too icy when the sun sets. I don't need more things, especially not from a mall, just the comforting warmth of fuzzy socks and a mug of tea in hand.
I retreat to my home, my hobbit hole, my bear cave, happily toasty warm under my knitted blanket, enjoying the gentle hush of a winter day spent in cozy contemplation.
In the spring I will awaken from my dream state in search of daffodil bulbs and adventures, but for now, I do what the bear does: I hibernate, I draw inward, I wrap winter around me like a cloak and linger in the natural beauty of this meditative season.
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