Cold.....

It's cold. It's cold everywhere. Very cold. The Jet Stream has been uncharacteristically low, which always draws down Alberta Clippers and arctic air, always brings weather systems from the South, always develops lows off our coast that sit and hold the systems steady while feeding them lots of moisture to produce snow, sleet, freezing rain, ice... but I'm not just talking about the weather.

The past year has been a challenge. The economy blew cold and empty... there were pay cuts instead of raises for jobs well done... then more cuts... then more. Good people lost their jobs through no fault of their own... it's just business. More good people, while still working, are hanging on to their homes by a thread and ever-increasingly non-confident prayer. "The worst is over" is what we're hearing, but I'm not so sure. It's a challenge to hold a positive outlook when every day you find there's not only another mountain to climb, but it's steeper, rockier, colder than the last.

And then there are the losses.... already this year, short as it's been. A co-worker of almost 11 years, an Aunt, and now if the grape-vine is correct a good friend and colleague of a quarter century... and all of this in just the past three weeks. With their passing more of the warmth this world held is now gone, and it's just that much colder.

I think, dear friends, that I'm ready for Spring and Summer.... ready for turn-arounds, good news, and life. This cold is getting into my bones and my soul, and I'm ready for it to leave now. It's been a very long winter.