Frost

It seems as I get older, I find myself liking winter less and less. I wish that wasn't the case, but it is. I don't like the cold, or driving in the snow, or the amount of time and effort it takes to bundle and unbundle everyone in our comings and goings. Every year, around February or March, I ask myself the same question..."Why do I live here (in Ohio)?"

I know why I live here though, because I love the change of seasons, the soft grass, the rich soil...things you can't find in places where it's warm and sunny most of the year...like Florida.

Yesterday, and this morning we had frost on the ground. I don't like frost, because it means the dreaded snow will be here soon. I do like Robert Frost however. This poem is one of my favorites, and it has me thinking about a lot of different things today...about poetry in general, about aging, changing, and family...

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
- Robert Frost

The first time I came across this poem was as a teenager, reading The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton. Her books always killed me. I cried at the end of everyone of them (Rumblefish, That was Then, This is Now), and would carry that angst around with me for days afterward.

Nature's first green is gold...like springtime, and childhood, and innocence...her hardest hue to hold.

I had an amazing childhood; rich in family and people who loved me, full of wonderful places to explore. It wasn't without it's drama, but I was oblivious to all of that at the time.

I was that scrappy, dirty kid; a tomboy, with an overactive imagination. I was outside from sun up to sun down...even in winter, I think...(shudder). It was glorious...golden...but now it's fall...then leaf subsides to leaf.

I miss my family (they all live in Florida), especially my grandpa (he lives in heaven). That's a picture of my cousins and I, with my grandpa pulling us (that totally does not look safe!), down by the river, where they lived...my favorite place in the whole world. I'm in the front of the wagon, with the orange bathing suit...it had a giraffe on the front, I remember.

But, seasons change, people change, life changes...that's how it works; it's the nature of things, nothing gold can stay...but it's okay, 'cause it allows for things like rich soil, and soft grass...and memories that keep you warm through the winter.

Quote of the day - To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring. - George Santayana

Comments

[Corinne]

Oh Kelly... this was a beautiful post (love that picture!!)
This time of year always has me missing family also. My parents are in FL, my brother is in NH - but he's single and an artist and has a full time job and is too busy for us (sigh). I remember winter days spent outside, and the joy that came with them. I'm trying to get back in touch with that feeling through the kids, but man it's hard when you feel the cold so much deeper! :)