I’m always happy to hear from you.
Are you settling into winter these days?
The poem you mentioned is funny. Is the self that is mentioned something that was written and mailed off in a letter, only to return to the writer out of habit, or is it a self that was shed and left behind, only to be remembered by the memories written about in a letter that was received?
I like how it works both ways like that.
Perhaps it was one of those letters we have schoolchildren write to themselves at the beginning of a school year, to open at the end of the school year, or at graduation. A time capsule letter.
It's a mind-blowing haiku.
I like winter. I like winter much more than I like super hot weather. I was speaking to a friend who wants to move to a tropical climate because, at our ages, the cold increases body pain. Lucky for me, it doesn't seem to do that to me. Yet, anyway.
Neighborhood kids come around to shovel my steps, neighbors run their snow blowers up my sidewalk and driveway, folks get together in the evenings in their homes. Winter is quiet and beautiful. And the garden is asleep. Yesterday, I never left my house. It's very cold right now, 6 degrees F, but my house is warm, well-stocked, and I have excellent outer wear if I do have to go outside. I'm even hoping to go skiing this winter.
Winter is my favorite season. I like the other seasons, too, but there’s just something about winter—the silence, the clarity of the air, the darkness, the transformative powers of snow, the way that people come together (as you mentioned). I’m even coming to terms with the grey days and the constant drizzle of rain.
I hope you get to go skiing. My grandfather started when he was 78 (after a long hiatus) and continued doing it for about ten years until the condition of his ears made it impossible for him to balance on the slopes.
oh gosh, my ears are getting pretty bad too! I'm more worried about my knees though. I'll have to make sure I don't get too cocky out there, trying to show off for all the younguns.
Good to hear about your father though. 78?! To 88?!!!! I thought I was old, getting back to it at my age of 68. So I've got 20 more years on the slopes.
I forgot to ask you about the earthquake. When it happened, you were mid-week in your posting, and then said nothing about it (that I saw) until you mentioned cracks in a playground recently. So you were not terribly affected?
In my neighborhood, there wasn’t any real damage, but a few miles from my house, probably less than five, there were a lot of sink holes, damaged roads and sidewalks, slightly tilted houses, etc.
My daughter’s dance school is in an area that was affected pretty badly, but the dance school itself is fine (supposedly😬).
That said, the damage where I am was nothing compared to the area that took the brunt of the earthquake’s force. On the news, they said that the land there rose 4 meters, so a little more than twelve feet. That’s in a matter of two or three minutes. Pretty incredible to think about.