It is amazing how cold penetrates the body, robbing all of the warmth that our active bodies work so hard to create with their life. This morning I spun out on the large icy puddle in my driveway, and I was very grateful for the heat that works in my truck. Actually, I am grateful for every form of heat, the warm air blowing from the vent in my office, the wood stove at home, and my warm winter coat, gloves, scarf and hat when I am forced to expose myself to the elements. I am loving winter; the angled sunlight, the early nights, the long hours of sleep. I have noticed that even though my body goes into a sort of hibernation along with the rest of nature, that there is always a spark to my inner furnace, a core that keeps me plugging away and able to enjoy what sun and light we do have. This core is also active in creating a preservation cycle with itself. These months are for recharging, sinking in. What do I really need to be grateful for? What attitudes can I finely adjust to be more in tune, content, positive and happy with my life? What can I provide my body in the way of soothing therapy? I believe the weather and the season are great at offering me the opportunity to seek these things out, to do my homework, slow down, and ask myself what I truly need. I find myself glowing in the company of family and friends over the holidays, but I also find such contentedness in time with myself, a moment with my animals, or existing by my partner's side, spending hours saying very little, just absorbing the presence of one another.

The trees are bare, puddles and ponds are sporting their newly adopted layers of ice. The wind has a bitter chill, and all one can say today is "It's cold!" But the warmth that I feel inside is as great as ever. I feel even more penetrated by the warmth when the sky and earth are frozen, perhaps because one notices something all the more when the contrast is evident. The fact that both a warm cozy house and mittens can even exist when the rest of the world is dressed in sparkling ice is an amazing testament to what can be accomplished in this world, in our lives, communities, and most importantly within ourselves. Perhaps when one is calm on the surface, they are tormented deep underneath. Perhaps when one is expressing passion and anger, there still exists a peaceful stillness within. We have long summer days, filled with warmth and sun, but then the earth tilts on its axis, for we must experience the balance of the cold long dark nights. Without this cycle, this contrast, we all would be lost. Perspective can only exist with depth, and we need all the shades of light, the warmth and the frigid cold, so that we can have knowledge of the true meaning of either.