7:30 BELLS: Winter is a Phoenix that Rises in Spring

Only days from winter solstice, I huddle near the bonfire. Here in the country, no yard waste truck weekly whisks away a sedate container of leaves. Acres of trees wantonly toss their leaves on our property. And even moderate winds bring down branches. So we rake and we rake and we endlessly rake. And light bonfires in autumn and winter.

Like this one. With dark falling at 4:00, the molten gold embers hold my eye. Then the beauty of the lacy ash. The wood being consumed.

Our life being lived and consumed creates our own circling seasons of fire, ash, and fire again. Living is combustion. We are the fuel. Poet Wendell Berry wrote, “Practice Resurrection.” And I think, stepping nearer the bonfire, what is winter but a phoenix that rises in spring? Every spring.

Even so, come winter solstice, come soon.

7:30 BELLS Posts run every Tuesday.

7:30 BELLS Guest Posts run on the second Tuesday of every month. Join me on January 12 for a guest post with children's book author Erik Brooks.