Sunspots

Today is a rainy, snowy, sleety day.  Spring in Minnesota!  As a Southerner, spring is the hardest time for me here.  April in the South is ushered in with beautiful flowers, green grass, and the promise of summer.  Of course, in Minnesota we get those things too, but they don’t happen until May.

My normal coping over the winter for the last 16 years has been to leave… as frequently as possible…. to as warm a climate as possible.  However, during the pandemic, my traveling days were drastically curtailed.  I had to learn to find warmth and comfort in the winter and spring in my environment.  I had to stop leaving and start adapting. 

For the first 8-10 years I lived here, I begged to leave and move somewhere else every winter.  I cried, gnashed my teeth, and pulled at my hair.  You think I am joking?!? My career prior to the pandemic allowed me to travel almost monthly and I took advantage of it.  I never really felt like Rochester was HOME until I was forced to stay here through the gorgeous summers AND the trying winters.

Rather than recognize the beauty of the season, which I tried to do each October/November with an attitude of “embrace the cold,” I ended up changing my mantra each year by December to “F*@# the cold,”

One day I noticed that my dogs, Phoebe and Mojo didn’t feel the same angst that I did.  Instead of despairing their situation, they adjusted to it.  They snuggled under blankets with their people.  They slept more and moved slower during the cold.  And most significantly, they found sunspots.  I am a little embarrassed to admit that I was 52-year-old before I understood the pure bliss of lying in a sun spot.  The first time I tried it, snuggling up to Mojo to try to share his sunspot, he looked at me like I had lost my mind.  However, always a mama’s boy, he snuggled in and let me stretch out beside him.  The joy of feeling the heat and sun on my face despite the chill in the house was instant.  I began to notice that my dogs move around the house finding sunspot after sun spot as the day goes on.

 I am much more joyful and content now that I follow the sunspots around the house.  I notice the glimmers many times a day now; not just of the light coming through the windows but also of the smiles, gentle moments of connection, and love.

What sunspots bring joy to your day? What changes will you make to notice them?