Photo: Snow in the flower box, dead leaves and old flower stems crumbling and turning in to dirt for the next seeds to be planted not long from now. In a different time, I’d complain about the cold and wistfully write about longing for Spring. But this year…

This year, we’re starting with a blockbuster snow storm. Somewhere between 4 and 10 inches depending on who and what you’re looking at. The meteorologists can’t agree one which model they want to agree with, but all of the models say more snow than we’ve seen here in a while and therefore get ready, y’all. When I lived in Massachusetts and I saw models like this, I’d be at the grocery store getting my milk and eggs and stuff and everyone would look at me with such perplexed looks. It’s just a little snow. Nothing is going to stop here.

And I’d be lookin’ at them like, why the fuck not? Why wouldn’t you stop?

And they’d shrug and give me that signature, “it is what it is. It snows here.”

and I’d just… boil with rage.

That place was not my place. Winter there was not my winter. The insistence that snow was just weather and not weather to be stopped for grated against my internal compass. The attitude was, “it snows here all the time. If we stop for it, nothing will get done all winter.”

And on its face, that logical to me. But it still went against everything I knew. Because here, well, we stop for snow. Perhaps because it doesn’t come often–it’s an occasional treat. A once-or-twice-a-winter phenomenon. And maybe that means we’re privileged enough to let it go. A spontaneous mental health day.

When I came back here, I held that same feeling of hating the winter, even as I felt the strangeness of not seeing snow and experiencing relatively warm temperatures in the winter months. Pretty sure we had a 70-degree day in January or February. Not cool. We got snow days for 2-inch snows and we all kinda giggled. My boys refused to wear real coats to the bus stop, insisting hoodies would be fine (they were most days). And I was so happy to have “escaped” winter.

But I’m sitting here before a big snow, watching the world around me get ready and I’m actually giddy about the idea of it. We’re in a significant drought here for the 2nd year in a row. The snow will do so much for us and we’ll need more even when it’s done to replenish the underground water supply. I want a garden and I want all these ticks and pests to die. And yeah, I want these cozy days of not going anywhere, not being anywhere, and I’m delighted to be back in a culture that expects that, too.

And what I wonder now is, if I properly venerate this, if I properly celebrate this weather, if I say thank you and take pictures and even play in it a little… will we get more of it? Will it know that we need it and want it and come back?

I’m reading a lot about “rest” and the falling out of the high-stress culture of go-go-go and achieve-achieve-achieve and destroy-destroy-destroy. I am writing about it, too. A novella is pouring out of me and a novel is going to burst forth as soon as I am done. I am heeding all the voices that say we decide the pace of things. We don’t have to consent to or participate in the culture of go. I’m fascinated by this growing call for a deep rest, a stepping back from reaction, production, and consumption. I no longer want to resist winter. I will heed the call to be patient, to rest, to wait, to ease in, to ponder, to contemplate, to dream. The light is easing back into our lives and I, too, will ease back into the high energy of a life being lived.

In other words, let Winter be what it is: a season to be respected, even venerated, for its replenishing spirit. I shall celebrate every sparking snowflake and actively hope for more. (I’m sure I’ll post a photo on instagram! Consider following me maybe?

Business:

• Awards eligibility: This is a reminder that two of my stories were published in 2024: Didn’t Earn It in FIYAH magazine (October) and Exit Interview in Strange Horizons (December). Please read them for your consideration!
• Upcoming Classes: I’m teaching an online class for StoryStudio Chicago on February 6th and an online class for Clarion West on March 15th.
• Newsletter coming! I am going to start a monthly newsletter in February! More details after I have the infrastructure together… next blog post?
• Silverwood: I am getting back to writing Silverwood in February, too. Easing in, y’all. Easing in.
• Thanks for visiting! I am noticing more traffic here and that’s really wonderful. Thank you for visiting my little website. I promise to make myself more interesting this year.