Winter Wonderland

Winter has arrived in the north! The snow is falling. Beautiful, soft, sparkling powder has been falling now since this afternoon, and all the noise, zooming cars rushing by, the echo of trains and engine brakes from far off, are dampened in the blanket of snow. I love this almost more than anything...snow brings such peace, if you don't have to be anywhere or drive in it, that is. What a luxury to walk out of the school this afternoon, and know I don't need to be anywhere than in my cozy home, snuggled up on the couch, reading and writing and drinking a cup of hot tea.

I have officially "shut off," that is, Christmas vacation is still two weeks away and already I am changing into what I call my "vegetative" gear. Christmas music, Christmas movies, it's all coming out! Better yet, we're off this weekend to cut down our tree in the boonies. A truly non-commercial Christmas: find your BC Forestry "good for one tree" pass in the paper and off you go into the woods with a saw. Love it!

I'm still taking a breather from the book...waiting for a good chunk of time to tackle it and get back on track, although those chunks are few and far between right now. I'm doing lots of reading on the next step, as in, what to do once I actually do finish the book. I've included a few interesting links: one that details the warning signs of a scam publishing agency (http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2007/02/happy-valentines-day-from-writer-beware.html), as well as Writer Beware's "Two Thumbs Down" publishers list (http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubwarn.htm). 

As for writing, I must wait until the concert season slows down. How did I all of a sudden end up performing in four concerts? Only one involves me singing, but the piano accompaniment concerts scare me more. If I goof up, the singers following me do as well. Arg. Can't wait till December 16th when it's all over, and I can just focus on getting through to the holidays.

I think I'll go and stare at the snow a little before bed. My fascination with snow never ends...even up north, where it just keeps coming, where it gets ugly and cold and frustrating because spring always seems to be "just around the bend" but never comes till May...even here, I love the snow. It is all the magic of childhood rolled into one - imagination, a sense of wonder, innocence and purity. I hope I can always remember that. Especially when I slip and fall in it and want to walk around with a blow dryer to melt it all. Ah! Snow.