A California December

It has been raining off and on for the last couple of weeks. This morning, when I woke up, I looked out the window to the field across the street and it was the greenest it has been all year long... and it's supposed to be winter! I have got to admit, I have loved the cool (but certainly not COLD) rains we have been having, but I can't help but miss real Idaho winters too.

My longing for the red leaves of fall and the sparkling snow of winter reminded me of a poem my grandmother, Sharon Christensen, wrote titled "Sylmar, California" She was a lovely poet and I think I will try to share more of her poetry in future posts.

I would so much rather have lived
where snow and autumn leaves
tell me of the changing years.

But the desert and the hot summers
with winter's changeless scene
have been my lot

Once I complained, but now
I count not the brilliance
of the air around me,
but tell the season's change
by the loved faces
that surround me.

I love this poem because I can relate to it. I love the changing seasons, and you don't get those at all in this part of California. When it comes to true joy, however, the bright leaves and glistening snow can't shine a light on the joy that family and friends bring to our lives. I am so grateful to have been able to live so close to family, mine and Shane's, these last two years. I am so blessed to get to spend this time with them. And I would choose being with them over a life-full of seasons any time!