When winter has done its beautiful, cold, dreadful and dreary work, suddenly one day we start to come alive. We get the urge and yearning to plant and to grow and to move into the cycle of another season and chapter.

Yesterday it was 18° in the morning; and it was 34° at high noon today.

But I think I can get this wood stove going and tackle things in the basement of the studio building and begin to move forward into my vision and plan for this new growing season 2022, this time hopefully getting a proper head start and reaping the fruits of my labors.

I have been told that in some places such as Minnesota, during the winters they announce the day’s survivability index. This is an estimate of how many minutes one can survive outdoors. Literally, the number of minutes. They said it can feel like the fluid on your eyeballs is freezing – that’s how cold it is.

The literal and metaphorical winters of our lives are such as this at times. We may wonder how much more we can endure and when or if we will survive.

We protect ourselves, we seek comfort, shelter and fattening comfort foods – which serve their purposes during this time on a number of levels.

When we think of testing and trials in biblical terms we normally think of fire and images of burning purification.  We don’t think of purification coming through cycles of intense coldness, snow, isolation and such.

The first snow of the year is always magically enchanting  to me and brings a sense of peaceful, quiet and literal refreshing-cleansing of both the outdoors and my own spiritual yearly rhythms.

As these winters do their work we begin to be ready for it to end.

I am feeling this today, with the excitement that spring is just around the corner…

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