This time of year, I feel a little like Dorothy living in Kansas at the beginning of the Wizard of Oz. My dreams may be in living color, but the reality of wintertime in Iowa is cold, black and white.
Starting in November, the vibrant greens, pinks, blues purples, and yellows of summer, and the brilliant reds and oranges of autumn are gradually replaced by a monochromatic palette of browns, grays, blacks, and whites. By the time January rolls around, the view outside my window is white, white and more white. Winter snow, fog, ice, and overcast skies dominate the landscape until late February – if we’re lucky, late April if we’re not.
A friend of mine who’s an artist has tried to convince me that there are subtle shades of pink, blue and lavender lurking behind the obvious in my all-white, wintertime world. But hard as I try to see past the stark glare and focus on the subtle intricacies of white, I still miss color.
I survive wintertime by surrounding myself with colorful images – bright foods, cheery Christmas and Valentine decorations, perky clothes, jewelry and hats, and photo collages from summertime vacation and events. I keep watch for the occasional breathtaking sunrise or sunset. And I write.
Like Dorothy, I dream of far off places. I imagine colorful characters and places and things. I type black words on a white screen and with those words, create worlds where it’s springtime, where flowers are blooming and the sunshine is golden and warm.
Like Dorothy, I love my family. I choose to live where it’s cold and white for several months of the year because there’s no place like home. But in my mind’s eye, I’ll take some color, please. True colors – bright, vivid pinks, blues, and purples to start. Green and yellow sound just peachy, too – don’t you think?
So until springtime comes, happy winter to all – you can find me and my imagination hanging somewhere over the rainbow, at least until May.
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Such beautifully colorful pictures. Thank you for brightening our gray.
Thank you, Sheila. Brightening our gray is clever and very appropriate. 🙂
Sherrie, such fabulously beautiful photos! Thank you for all the color! Your post reminded me when I was stationed in the desert years ago and everything was pretty much brown, gray and tan. As time passed, though, I started seeing the beautiful other colors of the desert. And the textures. I came to love the desert as much as all the other places I’d lived. It was just a different kind of beauty.
I know what you mean, Coco. When I lived in Germany, we were in the Lech River Valley and would see the sun only once every 10 days to 2 weeks. I did get used to it though, and actually had a hard time adjusting to near constant sun when we moved to Lawton, Oklahoma, which was quite dry and desert like in comparison.
Beautifully said and we love the photos! This week has been grey rain and invisible fog so thanx for a splash of color, Dorothy (whoops), I mean Sherrie.
Thanks, Jonna. 🙂 I tolerate winter’s whites a lot better when the sky is blue, and we’ve had almost no sunshine or blue skies in weeks. But I am happy we haven’t had tornadoes or flooding, so I won’t complain.
The pictures are beautiful, but I guess I agree with your artist friend – there are so many mysteries out there in the snow – so many stories whispered on those icy winds. I love each season for itself, and the process of renewal is very much a part of that love.
Thank you, Frederick. I’ll adjust to winter eventually. So far this year, we’ve had near constant cloud cover, and I do start to go a little loco when I go more than two weeks without seeing the sun or blue sky. But then, with the weather other parts of the country are experiencing, I can’t complain!