(HOST) Samuel Moyer of Plymouth is a senior at Goshen College in Indiana, majoring in psychology and minoring in conflict studies. He believes that cold weather is an important reminder of the cycle of life. Here he is with his essay for This I Believe.
(MOYER) “I believe cold weather is not an end to summer and fall, but the beginning of winter. It signals a new season and is something that I like – Something I look forward to each year with eagerness. It reminds me of the coming of fall and winter, of holidays and traditions, of snow and white landscapes.”
“It has been a part of me because of where I am from. I am from Vermont, from the northeastern portion of the United States. I come from a land where it can be below zero every morning for a month, where eight feet of snow can come in just the month of March, and where the exodus of cold weather is not always welcomed because of the coming of mud season’ – a place where winter hasn’t truly arrived until you have to warm your car up in the morning before you drive to work.”
“I live for the cold, for the snow that can come with it, for the skiing, for the sledding, and for the warmth from a wood furnace. For the numbing feeling you get when your fingers return to life after being outside. For the numbing of the wind against your cheeks and face and for the feeling of hot coco running down your throat after a long walk.”
“Without cold weather I wouldn’t enjoy these things. I wouldn’t know the joy of experiencing your nose hairs come back to life after being frozen for being outside for a mere ten seconds. I wouldn’t know the joy coming from waking up in the morning to a warm floor, while knowing full well that it is bitter cold outside. I wouldn’t know the joy of ice and snow freezing to my face as I ski down the face of a beautiful mountain much faster than I could ever move on my own two feet.”
“I remember numerous times when I would come in from skiing and find that I couldn’t even talk. My face had gone numb from the cold and wind. Now, I consider my ski trips a failure unless this happens. It’s a part of the whole experience that I love.”
“Because of cold weather I appreciate spring and summer. Without it, summer would be mild, tame, and uninspiring. Without the bitter, freezing, winds, I couldn’t appreciate the warm summer rain and bright summer sunshine. Without the biting and freezing weather, there would be no hot humid summers. There would be no seasons. Without death, there is no life.”
“I love cold weather because of what it is. It makes my body breath harder when outside and appreciate the warmth of the indoors. It allows water to take new forms and change the landscape. It allows trees to shed their vibrant colors and expose the landscape that has been hidden beneath their leaves for half the year. It allows me to look forward to green grass and new leaves in the spring, to new life and new possibilities. The coming and going of cold weather allows me to see life as a continuous cycle and to appreciate it for what it really is; part of God’s creation.”