Finally Cold

The cold is coming. At last.

Yesterday we had the first real frost of the year—almost two months after our average frost date. Tonight, the temperatures will drop below twenty Fahrenheit.  A sudden change from the mild Autumn we’ve be having that has so far been the warmest on record for New England. While I appreciate temperate weather and the possibilities it brings for playing in the garden, walking in the woods and just sitting outdoors on the porch, this warmth is too much. These are scary times.

It feels counter intuitive to say that we need the cold. The winters here in Worcester can be quite harsh. You have to be careful when the temperature is low and the wind is strong. Frostbite can come quickly, even in the city. But we’re all, the humans and the plants and the houses, reasonably well adapted to these particular conditions.

The trees drop their leaves and stand in graceful silhouette. The ground freezes down a foot or two and holds everything in an icy embrace of darkness. Even the koi in the Temple pond seem content to remain nearly motionless in their fish cave below the ice.  And we humans can perhaps enjoy our cozy houses and the excuse to watch a little more TV or read another book that’s been sitting on our bookshelf for too long.

In August, I had the great good fortune of flying over Greenland on a crystal clear day. Melissa and I were flying home after leading a ten-day meditation retreat in Denmark and I happened to open my window at just the right time. I had never before seen the vast beauty of the snow fields and the flowing glaciers so clearly. Having read so much about the concern of the melting ice mass, I was conscious of their fragility even as their grandeur and scale were breathtaking.

This astonishing and ever-changing planet.

This dire crisis.

This precious life.