10 Weeks of Winter

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

A journal style blog exploring the pleasure and enjoyment of winter.

First Post — 10 Weeks of Winter: An Introduction

Michelle is an American born Canadian resident of the Pacific Northwest, hobby writer, book lover, and generally of the autodidact polymath smattering of knowledge, skills, and interests.

Category: Christmas

  • A winter treat… Besides snow, the best most wintery treat in the world is a steaming mug of hot chocolate. It’s the stuff of dreams and happiness to sip sweet creamy chocolate as the bitter cold winter day drifts by. I have been experimenting with brewing batches and mugs of hot chocolate for many years…

  • Boxing Day: a poem… I promise this will be the only poem in this blog. Christmas came and Christmas went With toys and bows and money spent And nothing left but Christmas lint Underneath the Christmas tree. Paper packing, strings, and ties Broken bits of wrong surprise Turkey, ham, green beans, and pies Remain from…

  • Merry Christmas… I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, always. But it appears my Christmas will be blue. From where I sit the painted window glass depicting frosty white scenes of snow laden trees atop swirling snow banks only slightly obscures the world of dark green and blue Gulf Island forests beyond. Low clouds smother the…

  • Surrender… Deep in the dark of winter a persistent spirit calls me to rest. Weariness takes hold like a longing for the embrace of heavy covers over my body and for feather-light closed lids over my eyes. The sweet ease of not looking, not scanning or focusing or perceiving into things, feels like floating in…

  • Trees and fungi… Last year, in an effort to diversify my social opportunities, I joined a local mycology society. Unfortunately their regular speaking events land on a night I’m otherwise occupied, and their forays fill up so quickly that I haven’t yet been able to get on the list. Nevertheless, I find myself, like others…

  • The sound of winter… Imagine looking out the window into the black freezing night. A streetlamp stands outside illuminating a cone of the road and sidewalks. A little speck of white briefly crosses the yellow light. Then another. Then two followed by five little white fluffs. What do you hear? Certainly quiet and silence are…

  • Winter fragrance… On a winter’s afternoon traveling home from a day filled with activity the still cold air hangs with a perfume of watery cleanliness and freshness: snow is coming. Once home a warm draft of mulling spices and firewood entices and beguiles the senses into deep respiration – a sigh of contentedness. Someone opens…

  • Better in the dark… Mid-December appears in a bejeweled cloak of darkness. Neighborhoods where gowns of glowing red, green, blue, and soft white light. Christmas trees look lordly upon the sidewalks, and downtown buildings and avenues blaze with rows lighted roofs, eaves, and trees. Even the crane operators working construction all over the booming downtown…

  • From whence it came… I dislike the word ‘festooned’. It sounds too much like cartoon, and, in my opinion, is a cluttery word that describes cluttery decoration. But, it’s the right word, like it or not, for much of December Christmas and holiday decoration. It’s even the right word for nature’s seasonal décor. Those who…

  • The giving season… The month of December has fully locked in with Christmas trees shining out of front facing windows and events stacking up in the calendar. Post-Thanksgiving sales are on their way out, and if you haven’t finished your shopping yet the clock is ticking and I’m right there with you. Sometimes finding that…