I Need Some Green!

Rainy days and Mondays do not get me down. Winter, however? *shudder

I have Depression. Duh. It's on my profile description over there. We all know it. It doesn't help that this seasonal stuff makes the Depression worse. I do need more Vitamin D; it would help. So, for my birthday next month, I've asked for a brand new double jogging stroller/bike trailer for my boys. I've decided that I need to kick this winter in the butt and go out walking, regardless of the coldness. The trailer would help me accomplish this because then I can go out when there is actually sun in the sky (as opposed to waking up before the kids and going in the dark). There will also be room for blankets and a nice little cover to keep the boys warm.

[Another reason I need this is because I need to get practicing! For what, you ask? For walking. Why, you ask? Because I have entered a walking relay! It's next August and I've joined the team of Amanda D. It's the Portland to Coast Walk Relay, and I'm so excited! Not only to do something challenging and to see Portland, but to see Amanda (and my other buddies who live in the Portland area... mad, Cristy, Ruth, etc.). So, Portland people, expect me in August!]

Another reason I hate the winter is the obvious lack of green. Green is my favorite color. If you look at my blog background, you will notice lots and lots and lots of green. I think this is another reason why I adore historical films based in the UK. Rolling hills and pastures; forests and gardens (I'm currently in the middle of watching Wives and Daughters). I love me some green! So, in order to combat some of these winter blues and to remind myself that it will become green again (eventually), I give you pictures of green (from my very own yard, dear reader!), and a resurrected post I did last year. Enjoy.

January 7, 2010:
It happens to me every winter: I forget what it is like to walk on the grass in my bare feet. My body recoils at the bitter cold and I content myself with a life indoors. Spring is far away, summer is a myth; only the memories of autumn linger in my mind. Come springtime, the memories of warmth will take hold and before summer arrives I will already be planning a hike, a picnic, an early morning walk. The irony is how repetitive the cycle tends to be. Over and over again I forget summer, only then to forget winter and cold during the hot August air.

This is not quite unlike the ease in which I forget how God takes care of me and my family. In the winters of my pain and struggles, I fail to grasp the reality of my summers. I only remember the autumnal paths that led me to my cold despair. But as with the renewal of the Earth, Spring will come! God has never left me to my own destruction; He is always there, waiting for me to realize the crystallizing beauty of my winter will melt and give way. The corner will be turned and I will once again dance in the grass of summertime.

Unfortunately, though, I will forget that even as my joyful summers still come, the harsh winters must also come. For truly, there shall be an opposition in all things; a time to learn and to grow, a time for peace. Without my winters of pain and struggle, I honestly could not appreciate my summers of joy!

“...As one writer expressed, ‘in the depth of winter, [we find] within [us] an invincible summer.’”
~President Deiter F. Uchtdorf quoting Albert Camus