Hibernation

Pin It The frosty mornings have been far more frequent as of late, and they serve as a reminder to the stockpiles of memories I’ve laid up against the cold and icy winter months which undoubtedly lie ahead.

Summer.

It seems to be nothing more than the passing of a dream, really. What was once in the here in the now seems so long ago, left beyond the barriered months of autumn. The distinct bite in the air is an admonition to certain creatures that the time of slumber is rapidly-approaching. You’ve got it, my friends…

Hibernation.

There are times when I wish I were like the varied species of mammals which bed down for the lengthy months of winter, and find themselves in a deep sleep, only to awaken once more when the arctic snows have begun to liquefy, and the world finds itself yet again burgeoning with life anew—not unlike the scene in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe; when all of Narnia is finally freed from the spell of the White Witch and magic of spring is freed yet again.

Ah, to sleep away the cold winter months like the raccoons and skunks, as well as chipmunks and bats which nestle down in a warm cocoon of sorts. Wait; make that more like good old Ursus Americanus—the American black bear. Not only with the constellation, Ursus Major illustrating it in the sky, but also boasting a pretty impressive catnap record to boot.

Did you realize that the black bear can go for as long as 100 days during his sleepy period without drinking, eating, exercising, or even going to the bathroom?

Now that is the life for me.

I think the bears are onto something.

So I say bring on the winter lethargy and days filled with nothing but the slow, dream-filled slumbering away of the cold and snow! Let the sleep move us past the immovable cars and slick roads! Bring on a siesta through the frozen walkways and nipped noses of January! Forget the infinitesimal moments of December 24th to enjoy a Christmas Eve, but instead bed down for a four-decimal-five months or so until April, with the budding flowers poking up under spring’s dewy heels! Forget snowball fights and catching snowflakes on one’s tongue with cups of steamy hot chocolate afterwards in Peanuts mugs! Bring on deepened sleep and a lack of building snowmen and sledding down wintery hills encrusted with glimmering ice, like thousands of shimmering blands of glitter! Bring on the hibernation and disregard five snowy months of school and a class of twenty-two students…

Never mind; on second thought, hibernation is for the bears...