Around the Thanksgiving holiday every year, there are a few halting false starts. Snow swirls into flurries, and water experiments with a solid state. But the momentum of the winter season eventually reaches critical mass, and the big wheel turns. Then everything seems to crawl, as if the lack of heat freezes even the passage of time. It is not the end, however, but rather a rest. It is time for the land to sleep. Farmland gets few breaks from cultivation.Surprise comes in the form of a mid-winter thaw. Raccoons crawl out of the big dead cottonwood to prowl the frozen riverbanks. Foxes bark for their mates. Skunks investigate culverts. Moods brighten and thaw as well. Everyone and everything has a different perspective on the deep freeze, as we rest and wait for the wheel of time to continue turning.
