February Came Cold

February Came Cold                     2-1-2013

By John W. Vander Velden

 

February came through the year’s door.  February came cold.  The month of winter’s mid, short of days, a time when many grow weary of overcast skies frozen pipes and icy roads.  Christmas entices December, gives warmth un-measurable by a thermometer, and purpose to the long month of winter’s beginning.  That Yule season flows into January with its fresh show of winter’s glory.  But by February most of the winter joys have been expended it seems…To many, it’s just cold!

 

But this month of twenty-eight and one quarter days has much more to offer.  Those that view the month as just some barrier to be crossed, on the way to March and Spring, miss so much.  Days grow longer as the sun working to squeeze the night into a more manageable length gives us magnificent rises and sets.  Many of the first birds return daring winter to hamper their new year.  February is the transition…winter but not fully.  It can be a time for reading behind safe warm walls…or for the bold times of embracing cold clear air outdoors.  February is filled with days…like any month…that are as good or as bad as we make them. 

 

The calendar will tell us it is February.  The thermometer might tell us that it is cold, but February is filled with days...each one an irreplaceable gift from God.  It is for you and I to take those precious days…and make them into something remarkable.  Yes, February came cold…but it need not chill our hearts!

(254 Words)