It’s midwinter here in Wisconsin, and the scene is reminiscent of Rockwell paintings and movies like “Fargo” and “The Revenant”. The white comforter descends and covers everything, all our flaws, and brings up the house lights in diffuse reflections off the diamond snow, brightening the season of darkness.
You walk out on the lake, deep in your cowl, listening to the sound of your feet grinding out each step. Stand and watch the birds huddling on overturned boats, the bare trees along the shoreline nodding in the wind. There is nothing like this anywhere else — no peace like the silence of snow.
The weather changes rapidly up here — we can get four seasons in one day sometimes — but there’s something about the brevity of the moment that gives it meaning, at least for me anyway. In that same way, the pool and spa summer, short as it is, tastes a little sweeter knowing it’s finished quickly as a dish of ice cream on a hot day.
