"Cold, Cold,
Frost, Frost,
Fling me not aside!
You have bent me enough.
Away! Away!"
  ~Aivilik Eskimo Chant

Winter is getting to people. I know it is true because, here in Minnesota, people are beginning to have that far-away look in their eyes. Their bodies are here in the ice and the, now dirty snow, but their eyes are looking into the future, toward a warm place, a place that doesn't seem gray and dingy. People have begun to wear the same dark clothes over and over. Blacks, browns, grays, that is all we can muster the enthusiasm for. If by chance we walk past someone in a bright color it seems, not beautiful, but gaudy. Winter is definitely getting to us.

January, frankly, is the time to lean toward our creative side. While people may be dressed in dark colors they are knitting bright red sweaters as a woman I saw last week was doing.Dressed in gray, she held the bright red yarn gently as her hands worked methodically. Seated next to her, a woman in black, worked the rich colors of a rainbow into a prayer shawl. They both seemed to be holding a string between the dullness of January and the promise of lighter, more colorful days. Writers I know hole up in January days to bring to birth the seeds of words they hold within them. Cooks try new recipes, woodworkers head to the workshop, musicians practice a little harder. Songs are born.

There are gifts that live within each season, each month. January finds us looking deeper for the gifts. Which is a good practice to have. This can encourage us to do the same with  people in our lives that may seem to be more January than June…….those people that seem cold, distant, a little removed. These January people are waiting for the gifts to be mined in them. Strapping on our hats,headlamp shining,we head into our interactions looking for the brilliant color that lies some place in depth of the darkness. January can teach us this.

On this winter day, on this winter weekend, may you find a splash of color, a place of warmth, a good book, a steaming cup, to hold you in these last days of January. I invite you to look for the gifts that are always lurking some place just below the surface. 

Have a wonderful weekend…………………………………