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Woman Times is a weekly blog series devoted to giving voice to the women of the Central New York community. I think most of us would agree, we’re ready for spring here in Central New York! It’s interesting how the weather dominates our conversations at this time of year. As we flip the pages of our calendars from January to February to March, we breathe a deep winter’s sigh anticipating the relief that’s coming! Weather relief that is!   There’s still a ways to go before we feel the seasonal shift in the CNY weather pattern. We’ve had a couple more Hallmark holidays to get through and if we believe in Punxsutawny Phil’s shadow, this winter’s lease is not up for another six weeks!   We’re hyper aware of the seasons in this neck of the woods and we tend to associate certain seasons with certain community activities. For example, if it’s cold outside and the holidays are just behind us and we’re wearing Orange sweaters to work (and not because it’s a color that looks good on most of us) then it must be Syracuse University Men’s Basketball season! And from the looks of it the Orangemen on the hill are keeping us warm with the heat they’re generating this winter! Yes, Go Orange! And thank you!   So, what do we do here in CNY to get through the rest of this winter between heart stopping basketball games and snow days? How do we survive the in between time? We survive on a healthy dose of faith and wisdom imbedded in the hearts and DNA of every citizen in Central New York. Some of us have faith to keep us warm; some have wisdom to ride the storm; and some of us have both. For those of us who live and work in CNY, it is our birthright to have both when it comes to the weather. We know that spring will follow winter eventually.

We learned in school that the weather in our hemisphere this time of year is due to the angle of the earth tilted on its axis at the farthest distance from the warmth of the sun. The result for CNY is snow, wind chill, ice, gloomy skies, snow plows and potholes. When you piggyback our snow belt proximity to Lake Ontario, all together this means winter seems endless at this point. Those are the facts, Jack and I’m not one to argue with science!

But I am one to offer an alternative way of looking at things. Side two, if you will.

Here’s another angle on what’s happening during these final frigid days of winter 2013-14. We are living on top of a world that is about to awaken, stretching to break through the frozen tundra of our own backyards. Beneath this bitter season with its gray and barren topography, deep below the surface, Mother Earth is beginning her labor and delivery process. The most glorious of blossoms are beginning the painful stages of birth. Seeds crackling, bubbling, brewing and popping to life not wasting a single second of energy in the darkened birth canal driven by an ancient intuitive intelligence that refuses to be swayed by the acumen of its brief lifespan. An emergence is about to take place. This ancient wisdom pushes on obstinate in its quest for life. As we do here in CNY in the final stretch of winter when spring fever hits us hard!   From its struggle, a bounty of colorful fragrant bouquets will be gathered, plucked from its birthplace to share in our earthly celebrations of life, death, and the marriage of hearts. What glorious ceremonies of transformation, communion, baptism, and graduation will be graced by these buds of beauty? We bear witness to the miraculous of miraculous, the glory of glory, the act of the earth as she replenishes herself.   We search for miracles every day exclaiming to see no sign of them, yet during these final days of winter we are privy to nature’s miracles above and below us. We are graced by the miracle of amazing sunrises on crystal clear late winter mornings, when to our East the Soul of our Universe, the Sun, emerges over the horizon with such vibrant beauty the Moon sticks around for the show.  At dusk, we bask in another brilliant burst of psychedelic light as the Sun sets and wishes us all sweet dreams. Then the Moon, rising to take her place in the night sky, illuminates the snowy powder beneath her, creating a sea of twinkling ice crystals over our rolling drumlins. Shortly, the days will become longer. The earth’s rotation will take us closer to the sun. The sun in turn will bask our landscape with her rays sending showers of sunbeams melting the snow blanket and the winter hibernation period will wind down. The earth will be thirsty when she wakes. She will be cranky with a severe case of morning breath and sleep tattoos, but she knows what to do. She’ll shake it off. She’s been through this before. Mother Earth has a job to do. She’s on it! Her life force is hard at work to replenish and birth the beauty within her. Her quest, returning spring to CNY! Till then I leave you with a short poem to while away the last vintages of winter 2013-14.   She sat in silence, seeking solace. The sounds of snow softly slipping off the slouching slope. Slowly sopping starved stone.  Roseanne Olszewski is a writer, thinker and all around spiritual disciple who believes in the power of owning your presence in the world. We are all here for a reason, what is yours?  The owner of a Metamorphosis, Become Who You Are Meant To Be!, Roseanne works as an educator, consultant and counselor, focusing on personal development. She holds a M.A. in Transformative Leadership Development from the California Institute of Integral Studies. For more WOMAN TIMES – CLICK HERE [fbcomments url="" width="100%" count="on"]