Seasons and winter love

It's winter down-under which is possibly my favourite time of year.
I always think I'm the only one who loves winter, that everyone else is just hanging out for summer and the beach and the barbeques, but some work colleagues and I were discussing this the other day and how much we love winter. The season of scarves and coats, hot water bottles and reading in bed, a hot drink on a cold day, hibernating. And of course, soup!  Fortunately its not like we get snow here and have to deal with all that drama in the freezing cold. The best of both worlds.

I was on the farm last weekend, which is pretty cold, and was even better because of the fire going! My brother had bought wood to last the winter back in January and good on him, he quite likes chopping it and stacking it. I can remember having to stack loads of firewood as a kid which was kind of okay (actually it totally sucked, I can't say this supposed 'work ethic' theory people go on about has rubbed off on me much), but of course, the pay off is nice.
But then, the good thing about winter is that by the time spring comes around, you're ready for the change in the season, so it all works out rather nicely.
I was reminded of this watching the Harry and Meghan royal wedding. There was a piece of scripture read out at the service that talked about the season of spring, and was a nice reminder of seasons, not just the winter/spring/summer/autumn seasons, but  the seasons in life. How life changes. How you can look back over a period of time, whether it's one of grief, or a relationship break-up, or going through a restructure at work where staff morale is just the pits and it feels like it will never end, whatever drama is going on at the time, and you either have to make decisions to change it, or just get through it until it comes right for you anyway.
"For the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers are springing up and the time of the singing of birds has come. Yes, spring is here.The leaves are coming out,and the grapevines are in blossom. How delicious they smell!"