Bare Tree Blue Sky Winter Days

It is the time of the bare tree blue sky winter days. Sometimes we get snow, or ice, or some wintry mix. Then we get bluebird skies, like these. I don't think there are any skies bluer than the winter skies we get in January and February around here. So blue they'll break your heart.

This is a tree I encounter most days on my walk. The temperature was somewhere in the teens F, and I had on my big Woolrich coat, several layers, and gloves. My tunes box was blasting my favorite songs and I was warm enough under it that I went strolling with my big coat OPEN. Let me feel the winter breeze and know that I am alive, and I am STRONG!

I remember one winter, visiting my parents at home. And it was cold, like this, and the winter felt like it would never end. And my father said to me, he said, "Doll Baby, don't worry, the roses are sleeping beneath the snow, and they will come again." Here is wisdom for winter time: faith and hope and memory will get us through.

I have TWO songs to accompany this posting. First, this song is for my father, who reminds me that life goes on in winter, and maybe even flourishes (even when it doesn't look like it), and that the roses will come again when it is their time to bloom: Bette Midler, with The Rose.

Second, I spent some of my afternoon digitizing CDs that belonged to my big sister Barb. Among them were some real gems, like this one, which I share in honor of these bluebird blue skies of January: LeAnn Rimes, With Blue. This was her first album, title track, first release, and she was 13 years old when she sang it. I'll warn you right now: this girl can break your heart!