Dead flowers and dreaming of Spring

I’m not a fan of cold weather- cool yes, cold no. In fact, it’s been said of me that nothing short of perfect weather would ever please me. Ok, I’m a brat—so what? I’m a ‘middle of the road’ type of gal concerning practically everything. Mid-range temperatures, average rain fall each year, hell, I even drive in the middle lane on the highway. The middle gives you room to maneuver if necessary and I’ve found it’s not a bad place to live.

Frost, snow, and ice are not in the middle of anything. Waking up to find your favorite flowers frosted right out of life is not a pretty sight. Unlike a hard summer rain, the poor things can’t make a miraculous come back from frost since it kills them dead as a doornail. Even though living in northeast Ohio guarantees winter weather the sight of frozen flowers still makes my heart ache.

Once the frost comes, it’s time to begin planning for next years garden. Beginning in the new year gardeners everywhere begin pouring over seed and flower catalogs, drawing diagrams of where each plant will be placed as they watch the snow pile up. For the time being though cleaning up the damage from frost is first on the agenda; trimming back perennials, pulling out annual flowers, and basic garden upkeep. Don’t get the wrong impression however—I’m not saying that I necessarily do any of this stuff. I tend to let it all rot hoping it will ‘nourish’ the soil for next year. I’d rather trim, pull, and do upkeep when the weather is warm which is not now---it’s too damn cold outside.

Being basically an optimistic person I do try to put a positive spin on the annual appearance of temperatures out of my comfort zone. I’ve work hard over the past 38 years of living here to remind myself changing seasons are a gift from the heavens. The approaching snow, ice, and slop on the roads should be a time of rest and reflection since we sure can’t do much else during the lousy winter months. I will admit it is pretty- as long as I'm admiring icicles from inside my house while the wood burner blazes. And I can look forward to paging through the latest seed catalog soon- once we survive the holidays. I guess that's as optimistic as I get when talking about the cold season. Which works- it's a pretty middle of the road mindset, isn't it?