What the Bears Teach Us

As the temperatures dropped and remain well below freezing, in-fact not breaching above the teens for several days, when the sun peaks through the clouds the reflection off the snow gives a warming feeling. Actually, a false sense of warmth. Venturing outside in 7 degree snow covered grounds, the warm feeling became a realization when the 45 mph winds smack the blowing around ice crystals in the face. I am reminded, this is why a bear hibernates.

January in the Pacific NW and more pinpointed, the Gorge. As I add more years to my life span, I start to appreciate all those friends who have become, "snow birds", and flock south in the Winter months. Just a week of the frigid temperatures, my body looses all sensation to know the difference of 7 degrees compared to 30. However, I would be thrilled to see 33 and the precipitation falls as ice crystals making the snow texture like granulated sugar. Today is supposed to reach 20 and 19 does actually feel warmer than the past 7 degree stretch. Maybe since the winds died down, there is not a windchill factor of -25 that can cause frost bite on bare skin in less than 20 minutes.

"It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it." - John Burroughs

Yet, there is a beauty in the harsh winter, like all of the wonders of Earth, there is always beauty to be found. Most of the beauty for several days has been appreciated from behind the glass window inside the warmth by the fire. Even the pets stay inside more time than not and lay on the warm hard bricks of the hearth to penetrate deep to the bones. We can learn from the bears, this is a good reason to hibernate and sleep through the bitter cold dead of Winter, waiting out for the forest to defrost and come back to life in the Spring. "Bad weather makes for good photography." - Ansel Adams

There is a sense of hibernation, while I may not sleep the whole time, the quiet alone inside and feeling almost cut off from the rest of the world, gives a human sense of hibernation. It is a good time to enjoy the peace and listen to the quiet. "Locate the seed of peace inside ourselves, a place to find serenity". The world is noisy, you notice the peace more when the power goes out. Just the total quiet, no humming of a fan on the wood stove, or motor running from the refrigerator, just the peace of nature. In this noisy world we often find ourselves longing for peace. We search for it other places, whether its traveling to far away places or taking a lone walk in the woods. Its true you can visit sacred places to find peace. But be still in your heart, and cultivate the peace within, no time like Winter while hibernating inside to avoid the chilling temperatures of nature.

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus