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Winter arrived last night on wings of wind and a steady rhythm of rain on my tin roof. It is here a little early but Mother Nature has her own timeline and does not consult humans about when to send chilling winds racing south.

This morning is gray, windy and cold with no promise of it getting warmer as the day goes on. I’m sitting in my favorite chair procrastinating. I know I need to be moving some of my plants inside to protect them from the freeze that’s probably on its way tonight.

Instead, I’ve wrapped myself in the warmth of my quiet house. There is a fog on the windows from the swift change in temperature. Through the misty panes, I’m watching the trees sway outside my window. Leaves swirl across the yard finding their resting place in a pile on my porch.

This is my kind of morning. The heater softly hums and a couple of cats snooze in their chosen spots. Life is a little slower on a brisk November morning like this and I can use a bit of slower. Heck, the world could use a little slowing down for a breath I think.

Sometimes it feels like we are all scurrying around like ants after someone stepped on their mound. Its panic mode and we can’t seem to figure out which direction to go.

Well maybe it’s just me who senses a bit of chaotic energy in the world right now, but I sure do sense it. That’s why I’m ready for a quiet cold morning that gives me permission to procrastinate, allows me time to meditate on things.

You know that is one of the gifts of getting older — knowing that sometimes doing nothing is doing something really important. Nature understands this truth. That’s why we have fall and winter. It gives everything a rest from doing to allow a time for being.

The fact that I am getting a taste of January in November is surely a message for me to rest from doing for just a little while. After all, it’s  easier to find stillness this time of year. At least until the holidays kick into high gear. I’m not ready to think about that quite yet. Nope, I’m going to give myself the gift of this cold morning.

Funny that thoughts of my parents are strong this morning, especially ones about my Mother. It‘s really more than just thoughts; its feelings.

If my Mother were alive right now, I’d be getting a phone call this morning.

“It’s gonna be cold tonight,” she’d say. “You better cover up your japonica.”

That was our standing joke and I‘m not sure how it got started because neither of us had a japonica plant. That didn’t matter; we always reminded each other of the importance of covering it when a freeze came calling. For the space of a breath, I forgot that it is my first fall without her and there are no more japonica calls coming.

Maybe that is the real reason I need this slowing down meditating time that comes with this first chilly day. My heart needs to adjust to more than the changing of the seasons. It’s needs a chance to find its way to a new reality that doesn’t include my Mother being with me.

Perhaps, the divine spirit sent this winter day my way early to allow me to settle slowly into the new path I’m walking without either of my parents in the world. I close my eyes and allow myself a moment of feeling my memories of being in the warmth of that old house on East Park Avenue. Hearing the cold winds rattle the windows and the soft voices of my parents talking in the kitchen.

Yes, winter arrived on the wings of wind and brought with it sweet memories. I’m sitting with them for another minute.

Then I am going outside to make sure I’ve got my japonica covered.