The cold comes in slow: white fog that slides over the mountains at night. Hangs in wreaths around the peaks.
Usually, I fear the winter. I see it as a long night when my summer radiance sleeps, curled up like a crocus under snow.
But this year… This year I’m hopeful.
*
I often hear the phrase, “Oh, what a difference a year makes,” and for me, in this moment, that’s true. Because I was in a very lonely place twelve months ago.
But suddenly I find myself surrounded by a tribe of good people who I adore, and who might — just maybe — adore me, too.
And so I look forward to long winter months around dining room tables, with wine and candlelight, good food and good cheer, conversations that wind like boxwood mazes … music … and laughter. Oh, God, I look forward to laughter.
I say all this because, if you’re looking toward a winter that feels a bit more bleak, I want you to hear me tell you that the bleakness just can’t last.
Not a chance, friend…
*
Can I tell you something else?? I’ve been scrolling through my photos from last winter, and I’m noticing something surprising:
My winter photos are about ten times more beautiful than my summer shots.
I find these lines in last year’s journal, scribbled during February’s cold:
…And maybe that’s why I’ve found it easier, rather than harder, to learn photography in winter.
Because when the whole world is stripped clean of color, the beauty spare and sometimes poverty-stricken … then, a single leaf, a lone limb thrust up to the sky, screams out like an exclamation point.
(Oh, Lord, electrify me).
And maybe this poverty of green is necessary to keep my eyes sharp — my soul hungry and desperate enough to get down on my knees for the crumbs.
I sit here at my little writing desk, the lamplight reflecting the words back to me like an echo, and I think: yes.
Yes, that’s true.
It’s true for me, and it’s true for you, too.
*
So. Whatever winter you’re expecting: full and warm, or hungry and cold …
Please know this: we’re going to make some beauty in it, together.
We’ll take photographs.
We’ll share snatches of poetry.
We’ll paint…
And Spring — I promise — will be lush and green on the other side.
*
Come with me??
❤
There is a melancholy of silence in your photo captures. Haunting radiance. I enjoy viewing them.
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Thank you … I think that’s a perfect (and gorgeous) way of describing it. Funny how the lens sees what we feel sometimes.
I’m keeping that beautiful little accolade in my back pocket for a rainy (or snowy) day.
Thanks friend!! 🙂
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Oh my how I love this
Really enjoyed the words of hope 😊
Thank you for sharing
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You’re so welcome!! And hope is good for the soul … Really honored to hear your found some here! 🙂
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It’s Heartfelt 😊
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❤ ❤
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Yep
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I love my winter, it’s my favourite season. I’ve been severely disappointed the last few years-where I live in North-West England we have had barely any snow.
I’ve told my wife if there is none this year we are moving up north to Scotland. The rugged Highlands, or maybe my favourite islands: Orkney. “Be my guest,” she says, ” send me a postcard.”
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I’ll send you a box of snow, if you want. 😉
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If I’m not in will it fit through my letterbox?
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😉
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Thank you for helping me see the brightness in winter! I was dreading going out to work and planning my spare time huddled inside! I will now try to sometimes venture out with my camera 🙂 x
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You really should, Lisa … I spent s tremendous amount of time outside last winter, shooting in the bitter cold. It was ALWAYS worth it, and it would put me in a better mood all day.
Happy snapping! 🙂
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When it is so cold I sometimes it is difficult to motivate myself but I shall try 🙂
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I completely understand. It’s like getting myself out for a run — I often resist, but o always feel great after! 🙂
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Another great read. You have a style of writing where you make the reader feel as if you are speaking to them directly. Good work.
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I’m glad. 🙂 Thank you for that. I take that as a genuine compliment.
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Good. I meant it.
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Thank you for this, it is so needed with a very cold morning settling in and the reality of winter ahead of us. If I think this is the time nature will take a rest, I feel better and to your point, find the light, laughter and love at the table. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated and I’m very happy to hear how you feel today in this moment and to leave the sad feelings you had 12 months ago behind.
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Isn’t it funny how time does that? I’m wishing us BOTH a very warm and cheery winter with good people … And great art!! 🙂
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First of all, I’m glad that you’re winters have become more enjoyable. Having good friends makes most things better.
I was interested in what you said about your winter photographs. I feel there are different kinds of beauty. The golden sand and azure sky of some beach in the South Seas is of course lovely to look at, but there’s also a kind of stark, haunted beauty that you can see in Icelandic tundra or deserted Scotland glens. I think the photographs of winter are often something like this.
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YES!! That’s it exactly … I’ve learned to love that stark and haunted beauty, although of course the green is an easier choice as far as loveliness goes.
Thanks for your encouragement … You’re always so kind. 🙂
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You’re welcome! I notice that in my original comment I wrote “your” as “you’re.” There’s also a kind of stark beauty in my writing, unspoiled by the rules of spelling.
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You made me laugh. 😉
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Lemme catch the next plane, Alfa Zulu.
I’m glad you look forward to the next winter and that your life has… “turned around”
B&W photographs? Sometimes they are better than colour. Not always. The reason I believe is that Black & White “strips” the subject. Eliminates all the nuances of colour, so then the eye can concentrate on the structure.
‘Reason why most portraits are better in B&W, they go to the essence of the person portrayed. And, shall I get “corny”? A glimpse of their soul?
(Aw! Come on!)
Joyeux hiver Ashley.
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Your words are *so* true … “Eliminates all the nuances of colour, so then the eye can concentrate on the structure.” *Exactly.*
I’ve often said that I love {self} portraits in black and white because the musculature below the skin becomes so much more apparent … and, of course, the muscles are often where we physically express emotion, and sometimes pain.
So, yes. A glimpse of the soul seems perfectly reasonable. 🙂
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🙂
Although the soul may be so elusive…
Do silver photographs catch souls?
Vampire supposedly cannot be seen on mirrors.
And why the old custom of veiling mirrors in black after someone’s death?
(Getting all halloween here. Must be the fever, haha!)
Have a nice week Alfa Zulu.
(Bravo Mike Oscar is grounded)
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Yes, I’m with you! I have also decided to embrace winter this year (normally I dread it) so let’s do that together. Love that nature is sleeping and I love the look of winter. I tend to forget its beauty, being so busy longing for spring. …and why do I always feel like crying when reading your posts??? ❤
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You’re so sweet, friend … truly a kindred spirit from far away. 🙂 I have a feeling it’s going to be a beautiful and creatively productive season for us both!
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Oh, I hope it will! You know what? We got SNOW!!! And plenty of it, looks like a postcard outside 😀
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Aw, lovely! Post a picture! 🙂
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I will 🙂
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great mood and nice use of shadows 🙂
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Thanks, Joshi … I love those shadows. I know you’re a shadow guy, too!
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hehe yeah 🙂
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Your photography is stunning and I agree with your journal entry: stripping the elements of colour certainly brings out the beauty in the stark contrasts between light and dark features in our natural surroundings…beautiful work
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Thank you for that! You’re always so kind. 🙂
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You are welcome 🙂
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Your photographs are amazing. Your prose is poetic and transfixes me. I used to write poetry when I was younger, but I stopped completely many years ago. I think, “Who am I to write poems?” Sometimes, I think, “Who am I to write at all?” I abandoned my studies of literature and language for that “useful” degree that my parents strongly encouraged me to obtain. What scares me? Failure. Being found out as a phony. A fraud. Perhaps, not just in writing, but in life as well. “Maybe one day,” I tell myself, “I will go back to school, and then I can try poetry again.” Reading your poetry, though, stirs something inside me. The world does seem simpler in winter. When I take to the bike path near my house, I can clearly see straight through what the leaves of trees obscured from my view all summer. As I spend more time inside, I find myself distracted less by what is on the outside, and that thing in my soul stirs again. If I do try my hand at drafting a poem, it will be in no small part because of what you share with the world.
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Oh, lady. I’m absolutely humbled by your words.
I have to say: if the words are inside you, then just write. There’s no degree necessary to make great art, and in a lot of ways, the best artists are often better off without them.
Most of all, though, I hope you’ll always write for *you,* without worrying too much about what others might think. A person doesn’t have to be a “professional” poet to do great good in putting pen to paper … Truly. ❤
I'm lucky you're here. 🙂
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Thank you for these words. They are definitely words that I needed to hear… And should probably return to for a reminder when I forget.
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Return often! We all need a little encouragement sometimes. Thank you for encouraging me, too! 🙂
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Ahhhh! Your photos and writing are so wonderful! While I detest winter (just too cold and long), I have to admit there is nothing more beautiful than a thick layer of sparkling, white snow blanketing everything. I’m with you on that one. xoxoxox
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🙂 indeed!! And hot toddies and mulled wine don’t hurt either. 😉
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Don’t hurt at all! ;o)
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😉
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