Winter Enchantment

"The breath of winter holds a hushed enchantment, a captivating stillness." Anna Islington One frigid February day after a night’s snowfall had left my world white and pristine, I took my new sled and slowly trudged over our huge back yard to a spot which led to the top of a hill. Down this hill we children loved to go sledding. In white’s silence, I felt utterly at peace and unhurried. A few kids had arrived at the top of the hill and had already left before I got there. I could see the tracks of their boots and was glad to see that their sleds had made somewhat of a pathway for me to go sledding down. A few lyrics from “Winter Wonderland” drifted to my mind, for the snow around me glistened beneath winter’s wan sun, but I was alone in the wonderland. And no sleigh bells were ringing. Suddenly I spied a bright cardinal bird perched on the powdery branch of an evergreen tree. Its small red-crested head seemed to nod at me. I was blessed by that special moment as I stood transfixed watching it. I looked down the sledding path to the thickness of the woods below. In summer it is a chaos of untended tangled weeds and clusters of many trees. On this day – frosted by nature - the woods appeared the opposite of chaos. Concealed by snow, the woods was a picture of beauty in the cold, breathless air. Cold, yes, it was so cold. My mitten-fingers would soon grow numb. I got hurriedly onto my sled. Then gliding smootly downward, I went deeper and deeper into winter enchantment.