It does no good to tell ourselves that this winter has been relatively kind to us in comparison to last winter’s endless freezes and snow. It is the physical discomfort of the here and now that wears us down. And, please may it be so, will be easily forgotten once green things start to grow again. (Hence why women go on to have more babies…)
Of course, kinder is relative and based on regions, I do believe that Boston is having a rougher winter, at least in terms of snowfall. I have friends there and they show plenty of pictures of the snow excess on Facebook. The snow machine up in the clouds in that area seems to be stuck on over-produce. I know that snow blankets can feed off themselves to keep temperatures down, but does snow attract more snow? It certainly seems to this year in that area.
We have an ageing snow blanket in my region. A dusting here and there since our Super Bowl blizzard. Which means that the snow is wind scoured and compacting as it loses the moisture it originally had. And it is getting dirtier and cluttered with the flotsam and jetsam of suburban life. The cars are all salt-crusted, which masks their normal hues. Yuck.
My eyes are so tired of the color scheme – white, off white, dirty white, beige, and filthy black. It seems to be putting my creative mind into a narrow rut of thought which is as difficult to break as Boston’s rhythm of snow storms.
I think of things that I could do to help my creativity to spark, but then there is that moment that I can’t seem to get past. The one when I realize that I will have to bundle up, will have to slog through snow piles, icy spots, or slush to get where I want to go. Ugh. My couch, a mug of tea and a book, or Netflix, or some internet surfing will do for entertainment. It is my late winter trance. At least I have finally caught up with all 4 previous seasons of Downton Abbey. And I found a new show on Netflix, Rehab Addict, that gave me some ideas for some updates on my house, when the weather gets better.
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Tagged: Creativity, Energy, Reflection, Seasons, Winter
Some of the things I’m thinking about here in New England as we lose sight of places to put the new-fallen snow are: growth, as in slow, glacial relentless growth. Think icicles and snow drifts. Power and the ability to move snow and continue on with “normal” life and the limits of power either the raw limits (you just can’t do that) or the monetary limits imposed on it by private/public budgets. Spirit – we can endure the cold, embrace the cold, fight the cold… If nothing else, you have given me a wonderful prompt for post (if I can write it before the snow melts) – Thanks
Spirit is certainly in evidence all over New England this season. Resilience, too. I write this as we have a small snowfall, begrudging every flake that lands. I hope that your post can take shape more quickly than a glacier.
I handle the overabundance of the white stuff and Kelvin-scale temperatures as I always have. I start sketching out my plans for this year’s garden, and then I pull out the gardening catalogs and start ordering seeds and supplies. At least for those few hours, I can ignore the winter weather and cheer myself with the knowledge that better weather will eventually arrive.
Oh, Mark thanks for the gardening visuals. I am trying not to despair at our current lack of green and your plans bring green to my mind’s eye.