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My cat Louis is expressing everyone’s feelings around here at the farm. Although not much snow is covering the ground right now, more has fallen this winter already than I can remember from many years past, and the cold at times has set records. The subzero temperatures have kept the chickens in their coop, me inside the the house, and my dogs from getting around well. Even my dog Gordie, who normally loves the snow and deep cold, has had a harder time this year laying outside for long in the snow ditches he likes to dig for himself.

Things just aren’t the way they usually are, it seems. I have stayed inside in more ways than one, feeling like the cold has crept into my spirit, as well. Winter typically does that me, so it’s not unexpected. But this year it’s as if I feel even more still, more frozen, like the ice that covers my pond, reaching deep down to where the fish lay quietly sleeping.

So creatively speaking, its been a rough time. But having found a couple weeks ago the book of poetry I wrote back in high school has been a bit of a nudge, and I feel a little bit of a thaw coming on. I’ve enjoyed revisiting the poems, looking at the illustrations I made. It’s helped me remember that times come and go in life, including those creative peaks and valleys. But winter always leads again into spring, eventually.