January

Winter. Snow, idyllic as it graces spreading branches and drifts noiselessly from the sky. Then slush and sludge squelch underfoot. The warm spell passes, and jagged chunks of ice grind and crunch threateningly, unyieldingly. The wind is bitter to the point of dull pain.

For now, from the inside looking out:

Today, miracle of miracles, the temperature peaked above freezing for the second day in a row. Snow melted. Patches of grass have appeared in places, and some of it is even green. I am, suffice it to say, impressed.