January coffee

I sat and enjoyed my coffee this morning, looking around at life, wondering how it got to be the middle of January.

I remember the fall just like it was yesterday, the days began to get noticeably shorter, football practice ended sooner as a result but started sooner after dinner to make up for it, and then it was playoffs and hockey tryouts at the same time, and school again, and before I knew it, here we were. Dazed in that post December way that seems to afflict us every year; the parties and celebrating behind us, the houseguests all returned to their own homes, and the bleakness of January greets us with its frigid embrace and we stare at it dumbfounded like we've never seen it before.

We know better. This is not new. It happens every year, some years it lasts longer and others it comes and goes off and on, but every year it is the same thing come January in Winnipeg - it gets cold. We know this, yet we continue to be caught off guard by it when it happens, and it serves as a source of entertainment and an excellent conversation starter with whomever you meet.

"Cold enough for ya?" we ask it like its some kind of dare, like we're waiting to see who is going to be the tough guy to stand up and claim he wants more than this; or who is going to show their true colours and admit it has been too much for them - but no one does, that's not our way. No, one doesn't turn and run from January when it's 40 below - we're hardy stock we are, those of us who for whatever reason or lack thereof decided to live here on the prairie and we'll take whatever Mother Nature can throw at us because that's just what you do, you take what you're given and you deal with it.

Oh sure we'll complain about it and many will secretly wish they were someplace warm, where the palm trees grow, and the grass stays green and the gentle breezes won't kill you if you step outside - but we will all deal with it. And before we know it, it will be spring again, and it won't seem that bad, like a distant memory almost.

We took a break from the beginning of winter and relocated to Orlando for a week in early December visiting Walt Disney World and found that even there Jack Frost can still find you if he tries hard enough. Disney can't control everything, not even in it's own backyard. New record lows while we were there, a grand test I think, designed to try our spirits and our mettle. Poke the bear to see how it reacts sort of thing. Why would we expect anything different. We still enjoyed our time away, putting life on hold for a week, and then returning to hit the play button and fast forward at the same time to warp into the Christmas season at full speed; our favourite time of the year, with all the decorations and presents and lights and music and baking and an air of promise and hope for more of the same in the new year, everywhere you go.

I think it will be a year of changes this year, and of continued growth and opportunities. I've started down a few new paths, and I'll share those with you in due time; when you need to hear about them, or I need to talk about them - whichever, but until then I think I'll finish that coffee I started awhile ago. It's become like my January. It's cold. But it still tastes just right, and satisfies me and I still enjoy it.

What more should we ask for?