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Urban Village, originally uploaded by {studiobeerhorst}-bbmarie.

The winter time is the time we go inside. Inside our homes and inside of our selves. It becomes the time for reflection. A time to reconsider our life’s trajectory. I love being with other people and this time of year makes that more difficult. Last night daughter Rose and I bundled up with scarves, hats and mittens and trudged down to the Sparrows Coffee Shop through deep snow and cold wind looking forward to hot tea and the exciting frontier of new magazines. At the coffee house I bumped into someone I had met before but did not recognize at first. He said hello and reminded me where we had met before and we had a little conversation. Later in the night shortly before Rose and I headed for home he came over to show me a picture on his cell phone of a piece of art he had in his cubical at work. It was a piece he had purchased from our family this fall during Art Prize. It was so small I had to really concentrate to make it out but it was there. This was a small detail in my day that made me feel connected to my community, like I have a place and a role.

The isolation I experience during winter actual makes my hunger for connection with others more acute. The isolation I experience during winter drives me inside of my inner life, my secret life. My time alone is the all important counter balance to my time spent with people.