Stuck in Winter

Hunkered down...

Chicago isn't the place it used to be, but it is 'home.' It seemed normal to me, to us, that winter began in October and ended in May, weather wise. I remember my father and his coworkers 'betting' when the first snowfall would come. I hear from others that are worst winters were nothing compared to say Maine, Minnesota or the Dakotas. Winters of white out condition, where the cold weather started in August and lasted until June...not for me at all.

I have heard people talk about "water tables," mostly a farmer's reference for how much water or moisture was needed to sustain crops through the summer and a dry fall. I don't know anything about that. I know that it seems like winter has lasted a very long time. That time where you spend most of your time in thoughts and feelings that keep you isolated and insulated. Winter came - was it a hundred years ago - and never left. "We" still have to function, we still have provisions to gather, clothes to clean and of course, the ever present 'job' to hold down. We rise early, prepare for long, dark days and go about our daily tasks, hoping (secretly) for at least one moment of laughter. In the back of our heads, we are planning spring plantings and summer barbecues. But that doesn't come soon enough...

Plan
Take small steps
Evaluate progress
re-Plan
Re-execute

and

Hope...

...winter ends...