Waiting

Here's a little slice of my life in photos. The first and the last are the reminders of Christmas that my roommate and I have strewn about the room. The second is a peek out at the (still snow-less) view from our window. And then there's the makeshift calendar I scribbled on the back of a class handout so that I could remember that the end of finals is coming. Even better, though, Christ is coming.

Advent is one of those seasons that is sometimes overlooked. I've never really given it more than a medium amount of consideration before, but this year was different. I attend daily Mass frequently, and  my prayer life has grown into what I didn't know I wanted it to be all along. I find myself giving different daily activities up to God, such as working out and getting homework done early. I'm definitely not perfect about this. I spend way too much time looking at dresses on Modcloth or reading cooking blogs, and then an hour has gone by and I've done absolutely nothing of real value.

In the brief moments when I return to my room and sit on my futon, still wearing my winter coat and clutching my pink mittens in one hand, I lean my head back and remember that God Himself came down to earth and at one time felt cold and weary. Then I stand back up, remove my coat and boots, and figure out how much of Gulliver's Travels I should be reading. The silent waiting of my soul as I go about my day-to-day work, that's what advent is about. In a week, the waiting will be over, but it will not have been meaningless. This year was the first year that I realized I should be preparing my heart for Christmas, and the only way to do that is to wait.

All the pictures above appear hazy and dull, but that is actually quite apropos, for waiting points to the fact that something better is coming. And that something is Emmanuel, "God with us."

The days are growing shorter...

Okay, so I let November slip away a little. But here's the thing, everybody, I am NOT giving up. Right now I'm sort of this blogging underdog, battling end-of-semester homework and end-of-semester apathy in order to squeeze out a time where I can actually commit to this thing. You, dear reader, are of course pulling for me, because everyone loves an underdog, right? Right.

Enough about how I never write new posts before this becomes the Anti-Blog.

On to a new, more pressing subject: what is winter good for? I know I was born in Minnesota and somehow this makes me genetically obligated to well up with joy every time I see a thermometer that reads below zero. I know that four seasons are better than one. But really, why would I voluntarily subject myself to bitter winds that will make my freshly-showered hair freeze to my forehead? Because I have an 8:00 Logic class across campus, that's why.

I have friends who can't get enough of this barren season. They get some sort of thrill out of the possibility of getting to scrape ice off of their cars at any given moment. For them, the opportunity of making a snow-angel makes up for the times they forget to wear their mittens on the half-mile walk to South Campus. Having hands so cold that you can't move them is only sort of interesting about one time.

Lest you should think I'm a sort of Minnesota-expatriot wannabe, here are the three things that make winter kind of bearable for me:

1. The greater appreciation of hot drinks. I say "greater" because let's face it, ninety-degree weather is not going to deter me from enjoying (several) cups of coffee in the summertime. There's something so wonderful about slipping off your winter gloves and cradling your still-frozen fingers around a huge mug of steamed milk and espresso. Also, because in the winter the cold sticks around all day, you have an excuse to drink hot chocolate ALL DAY. This trade-off is almost good enough for me to start liking winter. Almost.
2. The undeniable beauty of snow. Okay, people, just because I don't like winter does not mean that the sun shining down onto glorious, bright snowfall does not also tug at my heartstrings. Also, the white snow makes it really easy to see outside at night, which I will concede is pretty dang cool.
3. Christmas. I'm listening to Christmas music this very moment and every free moment that I get because I only have about twenty-two more days to enjoy it without causing someone to be extremely annoyed. Please look up the Christmas albums of Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole (!), Michael Buble, and Josh Groban. Your Christmas cheer will be cheerier. Christmas is beautiful not just because it inspires good feelings and family togetherness, but because it celebrates the birth of our Lord, the Savior who has changed the world forever. One more thing, in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, things are so dismal and hopeless in Narnia because it's always winter, but never Christmas. That's about exactly right.

In Minnesota, winter lasts from about November to mid-April. Here's to another four-and-a-half months of icy wonder.