Winter Has Arrived

January 14, 2024

Sunrise January 10, 2024

We’ve gone from, “It’s so warm it doesn’t feel like winter,” to, “We’re probably going to break the cold records for several days.” For the first time in the four years I’ve been a subscriber, our CSA (community supported agriculture) farm share is postponed because, “the row covers are frozen to the ground and we can’t harvest.” Winter is making up for lost time.

January 9, 2024 while that big, heavy, wet snow was coming down.

Earlier this week we had several inches of the wettest, heaviest snow I ever remember. I walked to the park in our neighborhood, just over 1/4 mile, to take some photos, though “walk” isn’t quite the right word. Trudged might be closer! It was the most exhausting 1/2 mile I’ve ever walked, but worth it because it was beautiful. It also wasn’t cold yet, with the temperatures hovering right around freezing. I felt grateful to be capable of making that walk.

Sunrise, January 11, 2024

Now comes the cold. I went to the lake on Saturday morning when the temperature was about 3F (-16C) with a wind chill of -12F (-24C). My curiosity compelled me to see if the lake had started to freeze. It hadn’t. Not even around the edges. Might be a different story in a few days, but it will be even colder so I don’t know if I will repeat this or wait until it warms a tiny bit more before venturing back. My curiosity can be a wonderfully strong force so we will see.

Mother Nature’s holiday ornaments

It’s easy as an adult to groan when there is snow in the forecast and focus on the challenges of getting around, shoveling, and having our regular routines disrupted. It’s easy to focus on the “what if’s.” It’s easy to miss the beauty.

Etched ornaments (tiny crabapples)

I noticed this week what a difference the white makes when it is otherwise gray. I knew as a photographer that snow was bright - I often have to turn up my exposure in the snow or the birds will look like shadows with the brightness behind them. I hadn’t thought so much about how that brightness lifts my spirits. I knew snow was beautiful but I hadn’t ever considered what a gloriously brilliant design it was to have all that white in a season of gray.

My fellow writer Switter wrote a harrowing tale this week of sliding on ice. He talked about focusing on what happened rather than what didn’t happen. In a comment, he said, “The what ifs are the never will be-s.” I’ve been thinking about this all week, how often I focus on the “what ifs” that never were. As Mark Twain famously said, “I've lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”

It looks like a treat you would buy at a state fair.

As I walk in the winter weather, I am always amazed at how unfazed the birds seem to be. Food frozen? Great! A little water with the seeds! These tiny creatures have adaptations that allow them to survive. Watching them you wouldn’t know if it’s -2 or 90.

White-crowned sparrow

On Thursday morning as I approached my house, I heard a cardinal singing. It may be winter, but this guy was warming up his vocals for the spring mating season. I stopped to listen to him sing, his song cutting through the quiet and standing out like his red color does against the snow.

Mr. cardinal singing away.

I’m trying to make big changes in my life and it’s got me all out of routine, but I am doing it. One slow step at a time. As my biggest supporters keep reminding me, “you always figure it out eventually.” I am starting to picture a time, maybe about the time the birds are really mating, that I’ve got a new, healthier routine in place. Meanwhile, I am trying to notice when I’m focusing on the what if’s that never happened and shift my focus to what is happening. I may be in the fog now, but even that is beautiful.

Robin looking beautiful in the fog.

As my practice has taught me, over and over again, eventually the clear skies will return.

Take good care of yourselves this week friends. Wishing you warmth and beauty.