winter, inevitable winter.

i looked out my window around 11:30 this morning, and saw snow. huge, fluffy, unrelenting flakes hurling themselves to the ground. i had lots of things to do, but as soon as i began navigating my kia through town, i realized i wasn't going to accomplish even half of the list.

my little sister is stuck in a ditch north of ames right now, her car in the median, facing towards the oncoming traffic. she said it was surreal & she didn't know what to do. she said mom was mad at her. all she wanted was to come home.

we are on schedule to have this winter wrap up as the snowiest on record. it has not been an ideal year to park my car on these hilly streets. it has not been a good idea to forgo owning a shovel, or snowpants for that matter. i've dug my car out of waist-high drifts using a bowl on more than one occasion.

and on evenings like this, gray melting into glassy gray, i feel this weather transform my mood. i don't want to go anywhere, or call anyone. i almost feel pointless, like i am being buried beneath the weight of all those flakes. i know, hypothetically, summer is coming, but we seem to so quickly trade the warmth for another winter. humans have notoriously short-termed memories when it comes to weather. and yet, it is weather like this, that brings out all the long-forgotten regrets.

i guess we claim we gain a resilience that those in warmer states will never know. and an appreciation of ever-shifting seasons keeps us in motion. we like the distinct rises and falls, and we welcome the ways they punctuate our lives.