I wonder.  I am not in the artic, nor do I pretend to compare myself to people who live in such climates (hello my canadian friends!), but I found myself creatively lethargic during this recent POLAR VORTEX!!!! (sorry had to give it the due such a rad name implies), when did all this happen ?  When did every storm need… a name? When did “wind chill” become the official temperature (for dire effect over the actual temperature) ? Well, much like news weather is now a monetized football and there is an arms race to the top of the mountain (with a social media kicker).  We have tons more information than we have ever had but yet… we still get it horribly wrong sometimes (but things just move on and no one notices), like the last snowstorm we had here in New Jersey, it was a complete breakdown, I have never seen anything like that in my life here (and we have had plenty of blizzards), and also notice that there is no more official predictions about the amount/intensity of hurricanes (dr gray made this famous) because they were so wrong, so often, good life lesson here, as advanced as we think we are we still don’t have all the answers, apply that locally (I mean to yourself, you know, the local – you, and I will do the same)

the only sound the hollow scrape
the husk of a dried-out leaf
working across the way and the walk
the cold has clamped and tightened wound
life relents to hunker down
days of hibernation pass
just a lone streak of sunlight
some singular hope of warmth
suspended animation wakes the fore
a rustle, a chirp
life still is bound

notes… happy weekend folks!  be well, be true, be you !