Feb 17 2013
Sun and Ice
Too tired to drive into the mountains, I went down to the lake yesterday just to get out of the house. I was surprised to find Lake Champlain iced over as far as the eye could see. One would think that recent thaws would have opened it up a bit. But the fist of winter remains clenched.
The sun was out, anyhow. That gave me hope. Lord knows I need spring to get here. I need a few days in the woods – the deeper the better – to unthaw my cold, hard heart.
I am hardened by the daily irritations of modern living: media hype, traffic, tax forms, economic woes, and all that idiocy in Washington. Doing too much literary work while holding down a job doesn’t help. Neither does the helpless feeling I get while watching loved ones suffer a broken health care system. I’m chronically tired, cranky and demoralized. Don’t know how my wife puts up with me. No doubt she would send me to the woods for a week if she could.
All the same a warm, February sun reflects brightly off the ice, reminding me that the coldest, darkest days are in the rear view mirror now. The first hints of spring can’t be that far away. Just have to hang in there a little longer. I’ll be tramping through mud and snowmelt soon enough.
3 responses so far
3 Responses to “Sun and Ice”
Hi Walt,
This modern age can certainly beat one down can’t it, especially if one is not seduced too much by its so called charms.
I would reply with what Mr Stanton wrote except i would delete the “not” before seduced.
Yup, the idiocy wears us down like waves to ice chunks on the shore. Just came in from a wild hike today and feel much better for it. Hey, glad to see friends Keith and Bob checking in here, too!