Thursday marked the arrival of the permanent snow fall of the year and by so doing marked the period for most of us, that we consider winter. This discrete and specific passage of time when we see the season change from fall to winter.
For those of us who have seen many such winters come and go, the event is significant and each year it is unique as never once are at the precise conditions repeated, but for all of us, we blend those many years together and see them as a whole and as part of our lives, as we muddle along through unique experience after unique experience. But for children each day, each passage of time, is opening new doors, exciting opportunities and the challenge of discovery. Your first day of winter in grade one or grade three is a momentous event. The combination of your social experience, your growing awareness of self and the surprises that the weather brings, make this a very special time in a person's life.
As the teacher gets into full gear preparing for the Christmas concert, there is an excitement in each day, three weeks until Christmas holidays. Shadow talk at home about "what do we get for...." and woven through all of these activities are hockey practices, skating lessons, music lessons, a birthday party, dreams and wonders all to be explored, shared and savoured. Not only are we about to cross over into a new century, a new millennium, but also we have four months of snow, winter boots, parkas, mittens, rides on the skidoo and the chance to get your tong stuck on a door handle.
As an adult you discover that all that is behind us now, well, is it? Perhaps the discovers of childhood have dimmed somewhat, but rest assured that those memories now constitute what you are and have shaped what you know, believe and expect. And, try as you might to submerge your feelings of wonder at the shock of a cold wind and frost on windows, you are still living each day, experiencing each day, for indeed it is a new experience for you and if you have some how got it into your mind that you have see it all, you are in for some serious surprises.
