Thursday, January 24, 2008

Sometimes It's Cold

There's no denying the cold sometimes. It could be colder, yes, but it's damned cold now. The wind isn't blowing, so that's something.
I wish the wood stove were in.

Mary Oliver: Maybe what cold is, is the time
we measure the love we have always had, secretly,
for our own bones, the hard knife-edged love
for the warm river of the I, beyond all else . . .

From Mary Oliver's "Cold Poem."

2 comments:

Christina said...

Brrrr! I remember my first winter in South Dakota. The first time I endured sub double-digit temperatures, I called my family (in Kansas) to brag. I believed that being able to survive a winter in SD was right up there with climbing Everest! It takes extraordinary, strong people to settle into the north. (Lots of coffee and layers of clothing don't hurt either:))
For a little inspiration, I used to hang this Albert Camus quote on my office door, "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."

John Nelson said...

I love that quotation, Christina! It's an affirmation of what testing one's self against the elements can do if you look at it positively.