Photo by Gary O Smith
Our winter weather has been much colder and wetter than usual for South Texas, but that’s fine with me.  We really needed the rain, plus the hard freezes ought to help minimize the mosquito population during the long, hot summer which will be returning soon enough.  Meanwhile, the unusually low temperatures have taken their toll on the plant life around here.  Our yard looks particularly barren and ghostly, populated by tangles of angular, gray branches and spindly sticks.  I can’t look out the window without wanting to pick up my pruning shears and start trimming back the deadwood.  But I don’t, because conventional gardening wisdom says that in the San Antonio area we should wait until mid-to-late February before pruning most trees, shrubs, roses and perennials like plumbago, esperanza, lantana, and bougainvillea.  Trimming any earlier will encourage them to sprout prematurely, making them vulnerable to a late freeze, (which can happen as late as the first week of March).
 
It’s also important to remember that the dead limbs and leaves are merely a signal that these trees and plants are focusing their growth energy underground.  Winter is the time for their root systems to spread deeper and wider, thereby making it possible for the canopy to grow higher and broader in the coming year.  A tree can only bear more fragrant mountain laurel blossoms in spring, more juicy peaches in summer, and more tasty pecans in autumn than it did last year, because of the silent, underground growth that occurred during winter.  Pruning too early can disrupt this vital process, dissipating this much-needed energy upwards and outwards too soon.
 
This process holds equally true for you and me as it does for the plants and trees.  We, too, need to have a time of rest, a time to be non-productive, in order to be fruitful and productive later.  This simple fact tends to get overlooked in the headlong rush of daily life in the modern world, but that doesn’t make it any less important.  Fortunately, right now is a good time to remember that this is the season for quiet introspection and reflection, for going deeper into the texture of our lives, for no particular reason.  A time to allow these cold, wet days and nights to provide a perfect backdrop for slowing down.  A chance to curl up with a good book and a cup of hot tea.  To sit staring into the fireplace.  For preparing a nice, healthy pot of soup for yourself and then taking the time to savor it alone — or with a few friends. 
 
In short, this is a great time to take a cue from Mother Nature and let go of your Doing and just Be for awhile.  I really hope you’ll allow your Self to be semi-dormant for a while, whether for a week, a day, or just an hour or two.  I’m pretty sure you’ll be glad you did.
 
With blessings and hopes of seeing you Around the Circle,

Rudolf