Midwinter

It's midwinter and it's cold, cold, cold here in North Dakota. The temperature has stayed consistently below zero and the windchills have been moving toward -30. The air is dry. There are patches of ice on the sidewalks and the parking lots that will be treacherous until spring (which arrives around May). And yet, with the cold come bright, sunny days. The last 3 nights the moon has risen full, enormous and bright; the sight of it has caused me to catch my breath for reasons that have nothing to do with the cold. When the days get cold enough, we have a phenomenon here in North Dakota called the "sun dog." Ice crystals develop in the atomosphere that cause the sun to cast a reflection of itself in the sky; and so in midwinter we often have two suns instead of one, with a rainbowed halo around them. It's a miracle that almost made me drive off the road with wonder the first time I saw it.

So it is cold. And it is beautiful. And I am ready for spring. And I could delight in the wonder of this season forever. Blessed midwinter to you.