Wednesday 1 March 2006

Pic of the day: Looking out on a white world.

Winter days

The winter just goes on and on. Just when it seems to draw back a little, it returns with more snow, more cold. It seems to have gone on for a very long time. It is as if all my memories are of snow and bitter cold, except for some distant past.

Of course that is not so. It's been December, January and February. But these are months that have felt quite long, months etched into my brain (for now at least), months of change that make all things before seem distant. Another time, another place. Almost another life.

And after a couple days where I could actually live in the living room -- at least in the afternoon and early evening -- I am once again huddled up in the home office. There three computers and a space heater hold the winter at bay. Except near the floor, where my thick soft wool socks are not always enough to keep my feet warm unless the door is fully closed.

I could do something about the indoors, I guess. Electricity is more expensive than some years ago, but still not too bad. But I know it is only temporary. For each day now the sun is higher in the sky and its light warmer. Even though it doesn't feel like it, I am sure spring will come this year too, and all too soon the summer when I wilt in the heat. The summer, when I must move again to some unknown place, perhaps.

I think I won't mind if the winter feels long. In the end, I will probably be glad for every day I have been allowed to live, be it cold or warm, wet or dry, dim or bright.