I feel a bit hypocritical writing a book review about “Wintering” as I am sitting in my backyard on a warm, sunny January day. It’s typical for California and the city where I live — Santa Clarita — to have above average temperatures this time of year. The Santa Ana winds are stirring the leaves, my grapefruit tree is bursting at the seems, and the wind chimes are playing their wistful song. And yes, birds are chirping.
A book, a cup of coffee, a pen and paper…bliss.
I think I crave seasons. I appreciate each season for what it brings emotionally, physically and spiritually. Spring is for rebirth and renewal — we plant flowers and vegetables, eat chocolate bunnies and jelly beans and clean the cobwebs from the corners of our ceilings. Summer is the time to socialize outdoors, barbecue until you turn blue, and take a road trip or two. Fall (my favorite season) is about the paradox of abundance and death — taking stock of the harvest, cooking up a storm, carving pumpkins, and welcoming ghosts and goblins.
Winter, the bleakest of the seasons, is when we are forced to face our darkest selves. In winter, we must turn inward. It is the time to hibernate, stay close to home, and savor the delights of home cooked food and a warm hearth. Katherine May’s Wintering is about this cold season of the soul. It is about how we manage through the dark times and find resilience and serenity in the midst of challenging circumstances. She gives examples from the natural world and her own personal world on how winters can be navigated.
Considering that the world has been in a perpetual winter this past year, it is fortuitous that May wrote and published her book at this time. Her words are comforting and kind: part memoir, part travel journal, part textbook, part self-help. She lives in Whitstable, England, so if you are an Anglophile as I am, you will also enjoy the local color.
As the book jacket describes, “For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led to leave a demanding job.” How she accepts and handles these obstacles is the premise of the book. May also discloses that she has Autism. This is not a book with a distinct beginning, middle and end, however, such as in Elizabeth Gilbert’s iconic Eat, Pray, Love. Like the Thames River, May meanders and winds around her topic. She recounts trips to Stonehenge, Iceland, and the Arctic (the later while five months pregnant!). She also holds a hibernating dormouse in the palm of her hand, relates the marvelous plight of bees in winter, and meets a man who is a wolf consultant. She also takes up swimming in the ice cold ocean with a friend.
Though the book is not linear, it is delightful. May is a proponent of the idea that there are times in our lives when for one reason or another, we need to stay quiet, focused, and figure out our priorities. She writes, “It is the courage to stare down the worst parts of our experience and to commit to healing them the best we can. Wintering is a moment of intuition, our true needs felt keenly as a knife.” We cannot find solutions until we cut away with superficiality and see what lies underneath.
Let’s face it, most of us have been in a psychological winter for almost a year now. I related to her book on many levels. (For one thing, she mentions singing “Witchita Lineman” with her husband — that is one of my all time favorite songs!) But seriously, I have lived through many winters of my own, including the death of my husband, depression, medical issues, and unfulfilling work situations. May writes with a reverence for these situations — that they can be transformative and ultimately lead to growth. She is realistic, and yet still optimistic.
Winter in my backyard, also known as “A Whole Lotta Leaves.”
Wintering is the perfect book if you are feeling introspective and need reassurance that it is “okay” to go deep and know that you will come out on the other side. Also if you need a little uplift in your spirit. “Nature shows that survival is a practice,” May writes. The practice of recognizing those difficult times and coping in constructive ways is key to survival.
Another picture of my backyard in Winter.
Enjoy your day — whether cold or hot, blustery or calm. May Spring be here soon for all of us!
Cheryl Thatt-Burbank 