It is early January and as I sit here in my sun room at my keyboard, I am watching the leaves run from right to left and then left to right. My chimes have been busy today. My desk faces the east and my bird feeders are in full view, no birds. Normally I can watch the cardinals and blue jays fly in and out throughout the day but not today. I think it’s the wind. Everybody has a favorite time of the year and mine is fall but I don’t know a lot of folks that have chosen winter as their favorite season. I can’t help but think of our ancestors on days like this. I have a routine and although none of this is in concrete, generally speaking, in the winter months, I am doing the same thing day in and day out, day after day and a whole lot of what I am doing requires two things, internet and television. I get up and pour myself a cup of coffee. I turn on the television and get caught up on the news. We eat breakfast and I run through Facebook. And on it goes.

How did our ancestors survive the winter? While we sit around bored out of our skulls because we are trapped in our warm homes growing fat from our winter quota of calories, how did their day start? My best guess is with a trip to the outhouse. Then I am guessing that next on the agenda would probably be getting some heat into the house. Have you ever woke up in the morning and pulled your head out from under the covers and realized you could see your breath? If you are younger than maybe fifty I am guessing that if your answer is yes…. your power went out. Looking back, I have fond memories of cold winter mornings and backing up to a newly stoked stove. So without heat our ancestors would be forced to cut trees into firewood. I have also done a bit of this. Chopping wood is work and just thinking about it is making me feel very blessed to have central heat and air. Now our ancestors would be getting to the breakfast part of the day and I have no idea what the folks did before Walmart. Alrighty, once again I do kinda know. They ate what they raised, hunted and killed. I don’t know this for sure but my guess is that their winter calorie quota was reduced to fighting over the last rabbit leg. Day after day after day, right up to spring time.

So, as I sit here watching the leaves running back and forth while I drink my coffee, I am ready for spring, but I have to tell you, it is really not that bad, sitting here, waiting for the cardinals to come to their feeders.