Of the sub-zero kind. The river has froze up, only patches of black open water left, soon to covered by a thickening skin of ice, falling snow. Rabbit out back has been around, paw tracks left behind. Last weekend I drove down to Calgary, the highway weaving back and forth, with mesmerising snakes of snow. Hypnotic. The winter is a desert and from inside the car our sense of security is almost a mirage.

 

Warm house, healthy children, water, food, and the capacity to move freely from one place to another– these are privileges that we don’t fully understand and appreciate until they are lost. Why do we learn more quickly from the negative than the positive? I don’t know.

 

Classes are over at the university. The buildings emptier. I am enjoying the quiet. Still.

 

Snow.