Winter

 In wintertime I like to go inward and be cozy. I plot and gather for coming works, and hone my powers of observation.

 I go back to favorite old talismans and refresh my admiration and inspiration.
I enjoy every slim chance at a wintry mix. I like my winters to be wintery. I love cloudy days, overcast skies, rain, sleet, snow, fog, whatever I can get.
Come to think of it I do have a fever and the only cure is more snow! I remember when I was little, on Emory Lane. The snow turned our Charlottey yet serviceable woods in the back yard into an almost C.S. Lewis-y blanketed wonderland.
We had a black cat named Midnight and we'd walk around those woods, with all the trees black in the snow and strung with thick vines (Gods, I think it was poison ivy!) singing out "Miiiiiidnight!", looking for his signature kitty prints in the snow, wanting to bring him in from the cold. Little girls tracking a tiny black panther in the snow. Pure magic.

That is just the kind of image I want to draw from in my upcoming works. I just hog up all the things that are beautiful and pleasing to me. Store all that up this winter arrange it in my mind and bring it into the world in the coming months.
Wintertime has its own unique kind of beautiful stillness. I will slow down and take it all in.