Life in A Northern Town

Why is it that in the height of summer's heat and humidity, my dreams are haunted with images of deepest winter?

• The frozen palace in Dr. Zhivago
• An album cover (LP) for The Music of Russia on a clear, bright, crisp and cold winter's day
• Andreas Viestad's Kitchen of Light - Cooking at the Arctic Circle in a portable kitchen
• Reading a book next to a cheery fire in the woodstove
• The music and dance of Poland, Russia, Scandinavia, Scotland - northern climes
• Dream Academy's song, Life in a Northern Town
• George Vukelich's North Country Notebook
• The Star Wars movie (which one was it?) where Luke Skywalker gets caught in a snowstorm, and Han Solo treks out to find him, and cuts open the belly of a beast to keep Luke from freezing to death
• Watching Lawrence of Arabia while a blizzard raged outside when I was a kid (swirling/whirling sand and snow have a lot in common--still I prefer the snow)
• Northern Exposure (tv show)
• A cold day snow-shoeing with Sandy out at Cherokee Marsh


• A day "studying" at SLIS with an incomparable view of Lake Mendota, with Christian and Keba (my dog) trekking across that frozen lake
  

I do not dream of the desert, or the tropics, but of ice and snow. I am a Child of the North!

On Christmas Day, my nuclear family has developed a tradition of cross country skiing in effort to ward off the lethargy of a heavy holiday meal. Unfortunately, only 1 winter in the last 5 has offered decent snow on December 25 in Northern Wisconsin. I don't know how anyone can deny Global Warming with clear evidence like that. Most years, we've had to settle for hiking instead of skiing. I will miss the snow when it's gone. I can do without the icy roads, though ...

In winter, it's so much easier to put on another sweater. In summer, there's only so much you can peel off before you're down to bare skin. No, we don't have air conditioning at my house. Just a ceiling fan in the living room and a cool glass of lemonade with feel in a bucket of cold water ...

Snow season--long nights are not so dark. They are lit with the twinkling lights of stars, northern lights, and electric lights.


Here I am trying out my new (to me) snow shoes, back when we had enough snow to use them (about 1995, or so). Yes, that's a fur-lined bomber cap. I don't give a rip how goofy it looks--It is an absolute necessity on the coldest days when I still have to go out and walk the dogs. I'm glad to have it then!