Tag: winter

Years ago, when I was about to leave graduate school with a Ph.D. in hand but no job in sight, a roommate gave me a book titled, “The Shape of Winter Trees.” When I received it, the book inspired me with hope during an anxious period in my life. And winter trees still encourage me when I take time to contemplate them.

These may not be the end times, but they sure are crummy times in so many ways. So, it is more important than ever that we find diversion, find amusement, find relief. And I do not recall a time in recent memory when it has been harder to do that.

Our experience of cold is relative, as is our experience of the rest of our lives. What can feel like real hardship and pain to one person can feel like a light blow to another.