State of Mind

The trees look lonely, completely devoid of leaves and the sky is overcast with clouds laden with rain.  Winter (and snow!) is on the way- so says The Weather Channel. When I was younger I was not a big fan of winter.  I thought of it as the interlude between Halloween and Easter.  The only redeeming quality of those hibernating months is that I celebrate my birthday during this timeframe-almost one month to the day after Christmas.  Everybody feels sorry for you if your birthday coincides with or lands near Christmas.  At least there are presents to open.  Nobody ever thinks about the 'after' season when bills come in and the reality of what you did and probably shouldn't have spent on Christmas presents sets in.  As a child, I didn't quite understand.  As an adult I'm grateful my birthday is in January.  Another 'holiday' to help pass the time.  And it is a holiday- at least in my house!