{"id":1002,"date":"2015-02-02T19:26:36","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T23:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/?p=1002"},"modified":"2015-02-02T19:31:16","modified_gmt":"2015-02-02T23:31:16","slug":"an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html","title":{"rendered":"An Open Letter to Winter at Imbolc"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"IMG_1047\"<\/a>
Icicle and New Snow. Cat Chapin-Bishop. 2013.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

February 2, 2012<\/p>\n

A Snow Day at Home<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

Dear Winter:
\nI know, I know. So many people misunderstand you. You bring us beauty, like soft, white snowfalls and glittery ice, hanging like jewels from the treetops; we swear and snarl because your lovely ice and snow keep us from rushing about like crazy people in our automobiles.<\/p>\n

You bring us rest, and stillness, and for those of us who garden, you kill off the pests and weeds that threatened us with madness a few months ago (and will threaten us again a few months from now).<\/p>\n

Your cold and dark allows the Bear Mother to curl up with her babies<\/a>, deep in the quiet places of the woods, holding them close to her warm breath. You bring us the wonder of clear tracks in snow, calligraphy left us from the wild things who share our world, but seen so rarely by us hurried humans.<\/p>\n

And then, in February, as the days lengthen and your beauty is crowned by the flame of the sun, we grumble and complain some more. We want the beach back, we say. (We have forgotten sunburn.) We want the warmth of summer. (We have forgotten the mosquito, the heat wave, the humidity and the stale, dank smell of air-conditioned cells).<\/p>\n

And yet you return to us, year by year, underappreciated and lovely. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for covering my garden and my yard in \u201cthe poor man\u2019s compost\u201d of snow yet again.<\/p>\n

Thank you most of all for days off teaching, just when I needed them most. And as we Witches are wont to say, \u201cStay if you will; leave if you must. Hail, and farewell, season of starkness, limits, and rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Happy Imbolc, Festival of Fire and Frost.<\/p>\n

\"Imbolc<\/a>
Imbolc Altar, Cat Chapin-Bishop, 2013.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Signed,
\nA Fan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thanks to Seba, the Southern Fried Witch<\/a> for the inspiration for this post.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You bring us beauty, like soft, white snowfalls and glittery ice, hanging like jewels from the treetops; we swear and snarl because your lovely ice and snow keep us from rushing about like crazy people in our automobiles. Thank you for days off teaching, just when I needed them most. And as we Witches are wont to say, “Stay if you will; leave if you must. Hail, and farewell, season of starkness, limits, and rest.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1904,"featured_media":1011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[108,107,102,104,103,7,13,106,39,105],"class_list":["post-1002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-altar","tag-bear","tag-imbolc","tag-imbolg","tag-oimelc","tag-pagan","tag-practice","tag-sabbat","tag-wicca","tag-winter"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Open Letter to Winter at Imbolc<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You bring us beauty, like soft, white snowfalls and glittery ice, hanging like jewels from the treetops; we swear and snarl because your lovely ice and snow keep us from rushing about like crazy people in our automobiles. Thank you for days off teaching, just when I needed them most. And as we Witches are wont to say, "Stay if you will; leave if you must. Hail, and farewell, season of starkness, limits, and rest."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Open Letter to Winter at Imbolc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You bring us beauty, like soft, white snowfalls and glittery ice, hanging like jewels from the treetops; we swear and snarl because your lovely ice and snow keep us from rushing about like crazy people in our automobiles. Thank you for days off teaching, just when I needed them most. And as we Witches are wont to say, "Stay if you will; leave if you must. Hail, and farewell, season of starkness, limits, and rest."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Quaker Pagan Reflections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-02T23:26:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-02T23:31:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/441\/2015\/02\/IMG_1013-e1454532177295.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"638\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"662\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cat Chapin-Bishop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cat Chapin-Bishop\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html\",\"name\":\"An Open Letter to Winter at Imbolc\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-02T23:26:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-02T23:31:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/#\/schema\/person\/1e217ce02220745ccfe1efa003491e97\"},\"description\":\"You bring us beauty, like soft, white snowfalls and glittery ice, hanging like jewels from the treetops; we swear and snarl because your lovely ice and snow keep us from rushing about like crazy people in our automobiles. Thank you for days off teaching, just when I needed them most. And as we Witches are wont to say, \\\"Stay if you will; leave if you must. Hail, and farewell, season of starkness, limits, and rest.\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Open Letter to Winter at Imbolc\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/\",\"name\":\"Quaker Pagan Reflections\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/#\/schema\/person\/1e217ce02220745ccfe1efa003491e97\",\"name\":\"Cat Chapin-Bishop\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/author\/bishops\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Open Letter to Winter at Imbolc","description":"You bring us beauty, like soft, white snowfalls and glittery ice, hanging like jewels from the treetops; we swear and snarl because your lovely ice and snow keep us from rushing about like crazy people in our automobiles. Thank you for days off teaching, just when I needed them most. And as we Witches are wont to say, \"Stay if you will; leave if you must. Hail, and farewell, season of starkness, limits, and rest.\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Open Letter to Winter at Imbolc","og_description":"You bring us beauty, like soft, white snowfalls and glittery ice, hanging like jewels from the treetops; we swear and snarl because your lovely ice and snow keep us from rushing about like crazy people in our automobiles. Thank you for days off teaching, just when I needed them most. And as we Witches are wont to say, \"Stay if you will; leave if you must. Hail, and farewell, season of starkness, limits, and rest.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html","og_site_name":"Quaker Pagan Reflections","article_published_time":"2015-02-02T23:26:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-02-02T23:31:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":638,"height":662,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/441\/2015\/02\/IMG_1013-e1454532177295.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cat Chapin-Bishop","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cat Chapin-Bishop","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html","name":"An Open Letter to Winter at Imbolc","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-02-02T23:26:36+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-02T23:31:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/#\/schema\/person\/1e217ce02220745ccfe1efa003491e97"},"description":"You bring us beauty, like soft, white snowfalls and glittery ice, hanging like jewels from the treetops; we swear and snarl because your lovely ice and snow keep us from rushing about like crazy people in our automobiles. Thank you for days off teaching, just when I needed them most. And as we Witches are wont to say, \"Stay if you will; leave if you must. Hail, and farewell, season of starkness, limits, and rest.\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/2015\/02\/an-open-letter-to-winter-at-imbolc.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Open Letter to Winter at Imbolc"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/","name":"Quaker Pagan Reflections","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/#\/schema\/person\/1e217ce02220745ccfe1efa003491e97","name":"Cat Chapin-Bishop","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/author\/bishops"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1904"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/quakerpagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}