LIFE UNDER COVER

I wrote this post exactly a year ago.  Interesting how the weather has been similar lately.  I love how versatile t-shirts can be.  

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It's snowing up north.  

In fact, as of last night, Florida was the only state in the lower 48 that did not have snow.  That's a big white blanket.  

Heaters are cranked, cars are stuck; flights are canceled, people are stuck.  

Again.  

The cold seems relentless when you're in the middle of it.  Or buried under it.   

It's been cold here in Florida, too.  Although nothing like Massachusetts, or even, currently, Georgia.  

But the other day, I received a delicate and beautiful reminder that new life presses through the harshest of conditions. 

We had a freezing spell recently.  We turned on the heat and pulled out the jackets and scarves.  

And t-shirts....

You know it's cold in Florida when people toss clothes and bedding into the yard. 

I know Northerners are laughing because, during the winter months, THEIR yards are covered with something else....

 

Isn't this beautiful?  Looks like a post card.  My sister's home.

Winter is simply cold, wherever you are.  

And during the thermal underwear,  
fuzzy mitten, 
see-your-breath,
chamomile tea, 

bronchitis,

dry skin,

humidifier, 
windshield scraping,
slippery roads,
dead grass phase...

...it's sometimes hard to remember that spring will roll around again.

We had t-shirts on our plants for a week.  I kept a cashmere scarf around my neck in the house.  I baked a lot to keep the oven on.  I used the dryer because it was too cold to hang clothes on the line. 

Then...the temp rose to 40 degrees.  

My husband went outside to remove the t-shirts from the shrubbery.  

And came inside with this...

I actually caught my breath and went, "Awwwww..."  

It was such a sweet sight.  This baby rose with paper-thin, velvet petals.  

It had bloomed under a t-shirt (just like real babies, come to think of it.)

Despite the cold.  

Despite the frost.  

With no direct sunshine.  

Hidden from sight.  

It warmed my heart.  And I wanted to share it with everyone who is shivering today...or embedded in snow. 

It's a lovely reminder that the freezing blanket of winter is not permanent (unless you live in Alaska, then I can't help you.) 

Winter is just one season.  It will pass. 

We'll be mowing the grass and sweating before you know it. 

In the meantime, here's another reminder.... 

Stay snuggly,