is there anybody in there?

my fingers are icy, reflecting, no doubt, the fact that the temperature outside is more like ottawa than wiarton.

on saturday afternoon when i walked downtown, the bay was filming over with a light sheen of ice in this large and perfect crescent shap. the horizon was clear and blue, but right near the ice the water had turned a captivating and alarming shade of blue-so-blue-it's-black. and oh, the mirrorlike quality of that water! it was awesome, in the archaic sense.

today when i went slipping down the hill- narrowly avoiding being mamimed for life and saddled with an eyepatch due to a sharply protruding dead tree branch- that same spot of water sat opaque and black. the ice, however, has stretched out much further. i have to admit, though, winter isn't such a terrible season. i think peter summed it up best in an email some time in november, when the snow first began to fly. his response to the endless comments surrounding weather, and snow in novemeber in particular?

"welcome to canada!"

i have completely and totally appropriated telling people this sentiment when the commeents about snow, and cold, and ice become a little much. or overbearing. or just plain tiresome.

however, i must say, my fingers are still icy. and my feet could use another layer as well. perhaps i ought to work a little faster and thourougly on those slippers i am creating?