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The White Page on Which We Write Our Hearts
“Winter is . . . the white page on which we write our hearts.” Adam Gopnik, Winter: Five Windows on the Season Eisblumen: German for hoarfrost ice flowers “On a lonely winter evening, when the frost...
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Improbable and Preposterous Snowdrops
First snowdrops “Little bulbs that would be overlooked in the peak season have their day. The snowdrops are improbable if not preposterous.” – Beatrix Potter, from Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life by...
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Snowdrops: Runts of the Bulb Litter
Snowdrops “One might wonder what all the fuss is about, as snowdrops seem like the runts of the bulb world litter. The largest top out at about twenty-six centimeters or ten inches tall. Their appeal...
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Bonuses Like a Sunday Morning with Snow
Snowy Sunday morning at Green Lake, Seattle Yes by William Stafford It could happen any time, tornado, earthquake, Armageddon. It could happen. Or sunshine, love, salvation. It could, you know....
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Branches Big with Snow
Snow-coated branches, Green Lake park, Seattle “Every branch big with it, Bent every twig with it; Every fork like a white web-foot; Every street and pavement mute: Some flakes have lost their way, and...
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What Miracles Under the Leaves?
“What miracles are going on here under the leaves, or an inch or two under the ground! What awakenings, what shooting of first sprouts! What an important service dead leaves render — every plant...
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The Perfect Time to Go a Budding
“In winter when there are no flowers, and leaves are rare, even larger buds are interesting and somewhat exciting. I go a budding like a partridge.” – Henry David Thoreau, from Winter: The Writings of...
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Merry and Bright
Viewing the lights on a walk around the block. (I think this might be the start of a new project — a walk around the block every month, camera in hand, to capture the seasonal cityscape in my...
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Nature’s Remedy
View through a frosty windshield “When it is wintertime in your life, you are going through pain, difficulty, or turbulence. At such times it is wise to follow the instinct of nature and withdraw into...
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January, the Hardest Month
Foggy winter morning at Green Lake “Is not January the hardest month to get through? When you have weathered that, you get into the gulf stream of winter, nearer the shore of spring.” — Henry David...
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Still Pouring, Only Worse
“Still pouring, only worse. Poor world, she looks so desolate and depressed, as if she did not know what to do with all the wet. The earth won’t hold anymore. The sea is full and the low clouds are...
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February’s Browns and Grays
Structure visible “January and February are my favorite months. I like the bare branches of trees, structure become visible, and the subtle colors, all sorts of varieties of browns and grays that are...
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Finding the Fruits of Winter in the Witt Winter Garden
Witch hazel “But the winter was not given to us for no purpose. We must thaw its cold with our genialness. We are tasked to find out and appropriate all the nutriment it yields. If it is a cold and...
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The World All a-Glow
Bedazzled by lights “Until one feels the spirit of Christmas, there is no Christmas. All else is outward display — so much tinsel and decorations. For it isn’t the holly, it isn’t the snow. It isn’t...
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Islands of Warmth
Last month’s full moon “The cold has the philosophical value of reminding men that the universe does not love us. Cold as absolute as the black tomb rules space; sunshine is a local condition, and the...
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Handmade Christmas Cards
Painted Christmas card, an ornament tree I am getting fewer Christmas cards with each passing year, probably a reflection of my giving fewer cards as well. Still, one of life’s joys is finding...
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It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
My Christmas-season place mats Now that I’ve no little children in the house, I’ve severely edited my Christmas decorating and obligations. Still I do cherish and enjoy the few Christmas-y moments...
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A Birthday Story for Christmas
December 25th was designated the day for celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ by Pope Julius I in the mid-300s. Since Christmas is a birthday, I thought I’d share with you a beautiful birthday story...
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