As I type this, the woodstove is crackling to life from a small bed of coals to a lively fire intended to warm the house against the wintery cold that is starting to arrive here in the valley. There is a faint flurry of snow outside right now, and the clouds are hanging low. Everything about the day feels cold. The wintery weather is settling in at about the normal time as leaves still hang from the poplar trees that surround us. I close the door to the stove and allow the fire to reduce to a warming flame that maintains comfort through the house. It doesn’t have to battle too hard yet as it is barely cold enough to snow. I want to acclimate to the coming cold, those January and February days where the mercury seldom makes it above 25°F, and the nights are proven a great time to be wrapped up snug in bed.
Today is Halloween. To me, this is the beginning of the Holiday Season, which slams shut abruptly with the coming of New Year’s Day. It’s that time of year when I contemplate just how much wood I really have set up for winter, and if I need to split anymore to dry at the last minute, or worse, because I just don’t want to have to do it in the snow in the real winter. I get excited to take the kids Trick Or Treating. I get excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas and especially for the family time together. This year we are all excited for the coming of our second grandchild of 2024! Seasons change, the old things slowly make way for the new, and I feel a certain joy for it, even though I know one day my leaf too will fall. All this as we celebrate our own Day of the Dead, spook away the old spirits and make way for the new.