This is what winter should look like.
Text | Zu Xinlan
Recently, Shandong Wucheng Meteorological Observatory has continuously issued a cold wave warning. Experienced people know that New Year’s Day is the coldest season of the year. According to the statistics of meteorological monitoring station, the historical extreme lowest temperature in Wucheng County since meteorological data were available was -21.6℃, which appeared on January 26th, 1981. On the morning of January 7th this year, the lowest temperature in Wucheng County has reached -20℃, which is close to the historical lowest temperature peak. It seems that tomorrow will be another sunny day, and I can’t help rubbing my hands in anticipation.
I like winter, it can temper people’s will and stimulate their inner potential. As a runner, I am basically unaffected by the cold wave, but my own equipment is harder. It is enough to add a pair of knee pads in the morning and put a pair of warm and elastic running shoes on my feet. As the saying goes, practicing Sanjiu in winter means that the colder it is, the more you should keep exercising, and insisting on outdoor exercise for three or nine days can improve your immunity to cold. Taking willpower to challenge the comfort zone, I left the warm bed at dawn, and felt cold from head to toe when I went out. My nose and ears ached with cold, and my hands were stiff and almost unconscious. When I came to the sports square, I did some stretching exercises for a while, and then started slowly. Facing the first dawn in the morning, I breathed in fresh and clean air, and I controlled my body to adjust my pace and breathing. When I ran for about 2 kilometers, my whole body began to get hot, and my footsteps became lighter and lighter. When I unconsciously ran for 5 kilometers, my breathing was smooth and my whole body was transparent. Only those who have witnessed monsoon rains’s unremitting sports all year round can experience the wonderful beauty of being outdoors in winter. Think about the dog days when the heat is unbearable and there is nowhere to escape. I still love this cool feeling. The experience of winter makes me feel that my youth has always been there, and my years have never grown old.
I like winter, everything seems quiet and orderly. In the dormant season, the withered willow tips on the roadside also hang down, quietly gestating new life. The Sugar-Coated Berry peddled by street vendors is crystal clear. The colder the weather is, the more solid and beautiful the transparent sugar skin wrapped by hawthorn is, and it seems to shine in the warm sun, adding a beautiful warm color to the small town in the north. Unable to resist the temptation of bright red hawthorn, I bought Sugar-Coated Berry and took a bite, which made it more sweet and crisp in this cold winter. The freshness of hawthorn with the sweetness of rock sugar is a wonderful taste bud enjoyment. On the balcony in winter, the restless old mother has begun to make dried bacon sausages, which are delicious food for the New Year. The smell of fireworks on earth is the most touching to the hearts of ordinary people. Through a string of incense sausages, I seem to smell the breath of Chinese New Year. What I look forward to most is the next heavy snow, which can purify the air. In the snowy weather, suddenly it is a world wrapped in silver outside, sitting in a warm study, making a cup of hot black tea, holding a book that I haven’t finished reading in the past, and that kind of long-lost warmth and tranquility slowly ripples in my heart. Keeping company with books nourishes the soul. "is like a spring gale, come up in the night, blowing open the petals of ten thousand pear trees" is definitely the simplest visual enjoyment in winter.
I like winter, which awakens many fond memories of my childhood. In the freezing morning, the glass on the balcony is covered with a thick layer of ice flowers, such as colorful leaves and undulating mountains. Different shapes of graphics moisten the winter color, which makes people think, and the past time is presented in front of them. The winter in childhood was colder, the wind blew more bitterly, and the soil pavement was frozen and cracked. I can’t forget waking up in the morning as a child, putting on my mother’s warm cotton-padded jacket and trousers on the kang, and playfully doodling on the ice flowers on my window glass; I can’t forget how many cold days I ran outdoors to play hide-and-seek and throw sandbags, and soon I forgot the cold. Although my face was frozen like a red apple, I enjoyed it with white heat in my mouth when I spoke. I can’t forget that under the low eaves of the old house, there is a sharp and crystal clear ice valve hanging upside down, and the natural carved cone shape is beautiful and attractive. I always secretly move a chair to climb and break off an ice valve while adults are not paying attention, and show it off to my friends in my hand. The greedy child can’t help sticking out his tongue and licking it. Once, it was the happiest time in my memory when I was flattered in winter.
It is the law of nature that the cold season can be bitterly cold. In the cold winter, the splendor of plants and trees has gradually become a thing of the past, and everything has accumulated its inner strength, and it will shine when it blooms in the spring next year. The love of winter is not the yearning for new vitality. If winter comes, can spring be far behind? This is what winter should look like!
Yidianhao Niu Niu’s Shuxiang Cabin
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