Copies of my 2019 essay collection, Twilight Time: Aging in Amazement, are available directly from me (signed) or from Amazon or your local bookseller.
Living in Mexico, far from my beloved New England, I sometimes miss crisp cold days, bundling up under our giant down comforter, my nose cold, body warm as I sleep. And there's waking to snowflakes and frost frozen outside our windows in their crystal shapes. I don't miss the endless grey skies, shivering inside our 1810 home in sub-zero weather, the inside of my nostril hairs freezing while I shoveled snow, long dark nights, or my husband's longing for the sun. Still, ice storms, where each tree is a glistening sculpture, the smell of wood smoke and the white landscape still move me. If only winter lasted one month a year.
The lack of light is the greatest challenge. We just came back from Minnesota where the sky is big and the sun shines down even when it's cold and it can be cold! There's an awful lot of gray in the Berkshires. This winter, I'm going to try to appreciate all the different "shades of gray."
I find the darkness slightly debilitating, and darkness is a major component of winter in the Pacific Northwest. Many years ago I lived in Stockholm where, in the winter, the sun teases everyone into thinking it's going to make an appearance, but it never really happens. Dawn breaks, things lighten up a bit for a couple of hours and BLAM it's dark once again. If you snooze you lose access to that tiny window of opportunity Here in Seattle, the daylight is dwindling and if it's not raining the sky is sometimes blue for a minute here and there. But the days are getting noticeably shorter and shorter.
My winter challenge is keeping myself interested, engaged and entertained. The Covid makes that much more difficult because I do enjoy cranking up events that require congregating...art exhibitions, cabaret shows and parties. Now all that is out of the question. I do have small gatherings centered around food and friendship with my little "pod" and I am still painting...but winter is here and I'm even more hunkered down than I was in the summer.
I remember that sliver of daylight in the Scandinavian winter. It was actually more difficult for me in high summer when it never got dark. I wonder how the enforced slowing down is affecting your painting? Are you channelling all that energy into your art or is the painting becoming quieter?
Last year was a runaway truck of an art year. I couldn't stop painting. Right now I seem to be re-decorating my house, going through everything, and shipping stuff off to various archives around the country. The good news is: it's only the beginning of winter. I'm sure painting will happen once I've made room to put last years collection away. They were stacked up against the walls of the living room, dining room and guest room. The closets are already full and there is no more room underneath any of the beds!
What a wonderful question! I was thinking the other day how much I like the change of seasons in New England. There is beauty in every one of them. I have a sweet memory of being on a snow tube with Chris and sliding down a hill right in our own backyard. I would hold him in my lap and away we would go. I look forward to snow, wearing my new winter hat and trudging along on my daily walks with both hat and new boots. Makes me feel like a child again. I love baking bread on cold days when I don’t have to be anywhere. And I look forward to feeding the homeless hot homemade soup made by Bob at the Springfield Rescue Mission. On the other hand, I think of all those people who ARE homeless, or those who work and need to shovel/plow driveways, those who can’t work and the poor who may not be able to pay for heat, children who are in need of warm clothes and my husband who doesn’t like plowing the driveway. The light and the dark always touch each other inexorably………..”……and the dark could not put out the Light”. May we all be a light to others this winter and a warm hearth from within to shelter others from the blast of misfortune. Blessings and safety to all this winter. Thank you, Susie, for this opportunity to reflect and share. Peace.
Patty.....Yours is such an expansive vision. Another friend wrote that being in the world is an opportunity for grief and rejoicing. I feel that increasingly and I really appreciate the open heart that you offer to those who are cold in this dark time of year.
Living in Mexico, far from my beloved New England, I sometimes miss crisp cold days, bundling up under our giant down comforter, my nose cold, body warm as I sleep. And there's waking to snowflakes and frost frozen outside our windows in their crystal shapes. I don't miss the endless grey skies, shivering inside our 1810 home in sub-zero weather, the inside of my nostril hairs freezing while I shoveled snow, long dark nights, or my husband's longing for the sun. Still, ice storms, where each tree is a glistening sculpture, the smell of wood smoke and the white landscape still move me. If only winter lasted one month a year.
The lack of light is the greatest challenge. We just came back from Minnesota where the sky is big and the sun shines down even when it's cold and it can be cold! There's an awful lot of gray in the Berkshires. This winter, I'm going to try to appreciate all the different "shades of gray."
I remember the NYC snowstorm in 1947. The snow so high against our front door it couldn't be opened.
We were away in Pennsylvania during that storm and we couldn't get home. I remember riding around the countryside in a horse-drawn sleigh.
I find the darkness slightly debilitating, and darkness is a major component of winter in the Pacific Northwest. Many years ago I lived in Stockholm where, in the winter, the sun teases everyone into thinking it's going to make an appearance, but it never really happens. Dawn breaks, things lighten up a bit for a couple of hours and BLAM it's dark once again. If you snooze you lose access to that tiny window of opportunity Here in Seattle, the daylight is dwindling and if it's not raining the sky is sometimes blue for a minute here and there. But the days are getting noticeably shorter and shorter.
My winter challenge is keeping myself interested, engaged and entertained. The Covid makes that much more difficult because I do enjoy cranking up events that require congregating...art exhibitions, cabaret shows and parties. Now all that is out of the question. I do have small gatherings centered around food and friendship with my little "pod" and I am still painting...but winter is here and I'm even more hunkered down than I was in the summer.
I remember that sliver of daylight in the Scandinavian winter. It was actually more difficult for me in high summer when it never got dark. I wonder how the enforced slowing down is affecting your painting? Are you channelling all that energy into your art or is the painting becoming quieter?
Last year was a runaway truck of an art year. I couldn't stop painting. Right now I seem to be re-decorating my house, going through everything, and shipping stuff off to various archives around the country. The good news is: it's only the beginning of winter. I'm sure painting will happen once I've made room to put last years collection away. They were stacked up against the walls of the living room, dining room and guest room. The closets are already full and there is no more room underneath any of the beds!
You're being invaded by your own creativity. Could be worse.
What a wonderful question! I was thinking the other day how much I like the change of seasons in New England. There is beauty in every one of them. I have a sweet memory of being on a snow tube with Chris and sliding down a hill right in our own backyard. I would hold him in my lap and away we would go. I look forward to snow, wearing my new winter hat and trudging along on my daily walks with both hat and new boots. Makes me feel like a child again. I love baking bread on cold days when I don’t have to be anywhere. And I look forward to feeding the homeless hot homemade soup made by Bob at the Springfield Rescue Mission. On the other hand, I think of all those people who ARE homeless, or those who work and need to shovel/plow driveways, those who can’t work and the poor who may not be able to pay for heat, children who are in need of warm clothes and my husband who doesn’t like plowing the driveway. The light and the dark always touch each other inexorably………..”……and the dark could not put out the Light”. May we all be a light to others this winter and a warm hearth from within to shelter others from the blast of misfortune. Blessings and safety to all this winter. Thank you, Susie, for this opportunity to reflect and share. Peace.
Patty.....Yours is such an expansive vision. Another friend wrote that being in the world is an opportunity for grief and rejoicing. I feel that increasingly and I really appreciate the open heart that you offer to those who are cold in this dark time of year.
Thanks, Susie. I wanted to answer all of your questions! Lol…….my parochial school training😁