Sifoddling Along

By Marilyn Carnell

In Minnesota there are many sayings, but one of my favorites is that there are only two seasons, not four. They are: “Winter is coming – Winter is here.”

The “Winter is coming” seasons are glorious, but all too brief. Spring creeps in with greening grass and teeming flowers, Summer is filled with bright sun, puffy clouds and the bluest skies, Fall is a riot of fiery colors, but Winter seems to last forever with grey skies and nearly bare trees with only a few rag-tag bunches of leaves refusing to let go and settle back to the earth.

Perhaps that is why Christmas is so important – the bright lights usually go on Thanksgiving weekend when families get together and have time to decorate. Neighborhoods glow with color and figures of festive importance. Some areas are so spectacular that they attract strings of cars filled with lookers who enjoy seeing what items have been added this year.

I am reminded of an area in Kansas City where it is whispered that gangsters dwell. Every year that neighborhood is a fairy land of lights and animation. Many lawns look as well planned as department store windows. Their unstated message is “we are not all bad” it seems to me.

This year I am in a new home and Winter has arrived far ahead of its official beginning with the Winter Solstice. As I write, Thanksgiving is next week, so I am thinking of how I want to decorate my apartment to celebrate the holidays and brighten up my life because Winter is here.