Winter | Kevin Barrett's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Winter’

My wife’s favorite flower is the full size, yellow daffodil. She likes the mini’s and the whites, too, but her preference is for the full size, yellow. We look forward to their emergence every January / February as they bring with them the start of a new year and the approaching end of Winter.

But the yellow blossoms fade and then wither… And then, usually towards the end of March we start to see the sprouts of the California Poppy!! A few weeks later… Blossoms!



Granted, we only have ours as a bit of trim at the top of the front garden. Some of our neighbors have their whole front yards strewn with bright orange and green! And so, walking around the neighborhood in the bright California morning sunshine, we enjoy the month of April…

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Click here (10 April) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

Every year, yellow reminds me that Winter has turned and Spring is approaching… I see the first blossoming of daffodils!

The flower box in the front of our home (with the single blooming daffodil):



And, a close-up of the Lone Ranger at the far end:



And, here is a group of mini’s from our backyard:



It looks like we’re going to have a few clusters of the minis in the back, but the regular sized ones will be a lot less than normal. So far, we’re only seeing sprouts in the flower box (and fewer of those). None in our actual front yard. Oh well, I guess we’ll have to buy more bulbs for next year.

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Click here (9 February) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.

— Albert Camus

In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love.
In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile.
In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm.
I realized, through it all, that…
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.

— Albert Camus

[The fuller version is attributed to Camus, but are “probably” not his words. At least nobody has been able to locate the quote in his writings. The shorter version is widely attributed to Camus, but I’m advised (I haven’t personally read Camus’ works – which are in French) that this is also not an accurate translation, but does capture the meaning. (ex.: “Midst” is sometimes translated as “middle”.) In any case, the longer version is something it feels like he could have written. — kmab]

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Click here (14 November) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

No winter lasts forever, no spring skips its turn.

— Hal Borland

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Click here (16 May) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.



This year, my wife has spent seven long (to me anyway) weeks visiting her family back in Liverpool, England. She is coming back to me today.

If my life can be described as a tree with all of the branches and leaves as my personal choices and experiences, then our marriage has been the tree’s trunk and my Hil has been the tree’s roots, binding us to the good earth. Winter is over and Spring has arrived!

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Click here (21 April) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

One kind word can warm three winter months.

— Japanese proverb

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Click here (19 December) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

A major obstacle to creativity is wanting to be in the peak season of growth at all times. . . But if we see the soul’s journey as cyclical, like the seasons. . . then we can accept the reality that periods of despair or fallowness are like winter, a resting time that offers us a period of creative hibernation, purification, and regeneration that prepares us for the births of spring.

— Linda Leonard

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Click here (19 September) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.