30 Comments

Winter is someone who gets me. I mean I look forward to winter each year like I’m fixin to meet up with my best friend in the whole world. I just read your words and it was like eating my favorite foods and I’m now going back for a second helping!! So rich and delicious!!❤️

Expand full comment

That makes so much sense, Kitha! Nothing says best friends like cozy sweaters and mugs of hot chocolate, such a winter vibe, thanks for sharing! 💕

Expand full comment

Beautifully detailed. Snow covers all blemishes and provides hope for a new day. That’s until in the city the mush turns gray. Country snow is the best snow ❄️

Expand full comment

Thank you so much, Diane! You're so right about the "dead snow" in the city 🤣

Expand full comment

Just gorgeous, Sydney. Once again, your poetic voice both soothes and inspires me. 🙏💚

Expand full comment

Thank you so much, Don!

Expand full comment

Beautifully written Sydney and love the images and those ending words: "Adventure...awaits"

Expand full comment

Thank you so much, Neil, I'm sure you can relate to that feeling!

Expand full comment

Me, too!

Expand full comment

“I learned to be alone in a snowy winter forest. And that I was never alone. That a snow crystal is an inexhaustible source of awe. That streams navigate winter as cheerful prisoners locked in crystal palaces. That joyful shouts and absolute silence are the same language. And that bonds of friendship formed with winter birds are strongest of all :)” This is what I love so much about you, Sydney! You help my noticer (to quote David Perrys latest post) to notice better, and then I don’t feel alone either. 💚

Expand full comment

Thank you so much, Laura! That absolutely warms my heart 💕

Expand full comment

Introspection

Expand full comment

Yes!

Expand full comment

"It's a hard won peace". Winter's cocoon is a beautiful time, space for healing solitude. A test of faith at the same time, courage to emerge into another spring. Turning point, here we are.

Expand full comment

Beautiful, Noel, so true! ❄️

Expand full comment

Yes, indeed. That was my artist self speaking (Painting has been my hobby for the past few years, beside embroidery, which i have restarted doing not long ago. I like photography, too).

Expand full comment

Winter here in Canada means snow and cold and blustery winds. Winter means hat, gloves, a scarf and a good winter jacket and boots. Winter is also seeing the magic of birds (less than summer) and squirrels (also less) look for food, some of which I provide them. Winter is also when the song of sparrows is most precious. Once it was minus 20°C (minus 4°F) and they were singing so beautifully. I said, "How could I complain about the cold"?

Expand full comment

So beautiful, Perry, thanks for sharing! So many of our winter experiences overlap :) I've never heard a sparrow sing in winter, though, that sounds delightful! I usually look forward to hearing the Barred Owl, who used to call much more often throughout the winter nights. Unfortunately, they've been very silent this season, and I hope they haven't left us...

Expand full comment

I love the light during winter, it has a special glow. I also learned that I was never alone! I just wrote a poem about accepting loneliness

Expand full comment

You're so right, Elizabeth, winter light is unique. What a beautiful poem!

"And I no longer felt the grief

I no longer feel alone

In this bright and beautiful world."

Thank you for sharing!

Expand full comment

This is so beautiful! Everything from the writing to the photographs fills me with wonder! I loved this so much that I wrote an entire essay inspired by your question, "What does winter mean to you?"

I'll post a link in my newsletter tomorrow morning and be sure to tag you.

Thank you for such a delightful bit of work and wonder!

Expand full comment

Thank you so much, Jason! I am totally looking forward to the read, and so honored to have been a source of inspiration :)

Expand full comment

It means geese flying in formation through the great gray sky —

Expand full comment

It sure does, Corie!

Expand full comment

Winters in Kerman [There's a village named Kerman in the US, too. That's NOT where i'm living] are usually rainless and snowless (If it snows in the cities, it soon turns to either slush or evaporates quickly. It also doesn't fall enough to create a thick layer. In case of villages and mountainy areas, most of the snows fall there, creating perfect stops for snow-lovers, moutaineers, and so on.

Anyway, i have mixed feelings about winter, a combination of hopefulness for spring's arrival, planning for my year ahead, and melancholy to see bare trees, seeing no greenery in nature (Fall's a bit better than winter because aside from seeing colorful leaves, you can still see some green leaves, too. Also, as an artist, i prefer colorfulnes to monochromacy).

Expand full comment

So true, Negar, winter is definitely a season that prompts mixed feelings! But I also think mixed feelings are some of the most fruitful grounds to explore, with new realizations percolating through over time...Thanks so much for sharing your winter experience!

Expand full comment

You're welcome, Sydney. Yes, mixed feelings are perfect for more in-depth exploration because each of them tell us sth. Sth else: In my opinion, mixed feelings are like collages, and making collages is a stark sign of our intelligence and creativity.

Expand full comment

Great point, Negar, I've never thought of it that way before.

Expand full comment

Simply beautiful Sydney. Thank you. Now living in a place without snowy winters I miss those we experienced in New England. Of course there are moments here of that wonderful silent life that Nature shares with us...but wow...snowy winters!!!! Thank you again.

Expand full comment

Thank you so much, Ian! So happy to share snowy winter memories with you :)

Expand full comment