Song for a Winter's Night

"The lamp is burning low upon my table top; the snow is softly falling.  The air is still in the silence of my room.  I hear your voice softly calling.  If I could only have you near to breathe a sigh or two,  I would be happy just to hold the hands I love on this winter's night with you." ~ Song for a Winter's Night, lyrics by Eric Clapton, sung by Sarah McLachlan

 
When I was growing up in Middle Tennessee, the winters were more severe than now.  There were some winters that the snowfall was exceptional and we would be out of school for days on in.  The road we lived on was at the top of a steep hill, perfect for sledding and we had lots of icy misadventures.  On a couple of occasions I came very close to death...once almost being run over by a car.  There is nothing so sobering as going breakneck speed down a hill, hearing the car, being unable to stop the sled until the last second and staring at the hubcap of the tire as it passes right in front of your nose.  Another time, the sled and I hit a metal stop sign pole full force.  At least I had the presence of mind to move my head to the side instead of running head first into the pole, resulting in a very bruised shoulder instead of a crushed skull and brain injury.  My father witnessed that accident and literally picked me up in his arms and practically ran up the steep, slick hill, never hearing my protestations that I was fine and had not hit my head!  He was convinced that I was seriously injured and that I was talking crazy from the brain trauma that had just occurred.  Ah, sweet memories......

After a day of sledding, snowball fights, building snowmen, and more sledding, there would come the time when my friends and I were forced to come inside.  Just before dark,  the sky would take on the color of a deep blue royal blue, the snow reflecting a lighter blue.  Staring out the picture window in my bedroom, I would witness the blue world settle into the silence of a winter's night.  I can see it in my mind even now as I look outside my own home's big window into the woods behind my house.  The interior lights of our neighbors' houses shone muted behind curtained windows, the occupants settling in for dinner, warm and satisfied. I could hear my mother in the kitchen preparing supper and the rest of the family in the front of our home. Once the deep blue twilight of winter descended upon us, the darkness came on quickly.  The scene I describe was fleeting, lasting less than thirty minutes at the most.  Those moments stand out vividly as some of my favorite memories.  There is a gauzy, hazy feel to these memories, as fleeting as the actual event.

Tonight, I am tucked inside of the house of my adulthood, having enjoyed the memory as darkness came on.  I think of long ago friends and my siblings and the fun we had, of my dad who so loved the winter, of pet dogs who so faithfully trotted along beside us in the snow and who probably would have much rather been lying in front of the heater inside, safe and warm, of being so cold for hours and not caring, of calling the local radio station every 10 minutes at night to see if school actually was closed for one more day, and of the magical time and freedom that a child back then was fortunate enough to enjoy.

On this winter's night, call on your own snowy, comforting memories and revel in days gone by.  I hope they are as happy as mine.

Song for a Winter's Night........