It begins

It's the first of November and the oaks are the last trees holding the thinning remnants of their golden orange leaves. This morning it was just under 40 degrees. Grey clouds move across the sky and a cold, light rain falls. The trees are getting close to that stark, bare look that gives me a feeling of empty austerity and hardship. Winter here, when you're feeling low, is like having an ice pick pushed through your heart over the course of five months. This year it started early. I felt the initial prick of it against my skin today. It's merciless. It gets on top of you, looks directly into your eyes (it's own face completely devoid of expression), places the point against your chest and begins to apply pressure. The pressure is constant -unbearably slow and relentlessly steady. And it keeps on until some day in late March, maybe April, or most definitely by early(ish) May. 

Then again there are the snow bunny types, the holidays, snowboarding, skiing, the festivities and the warm glow they create. All you have to do is find them and join in.

The kid at the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru window looked like the actor Adam Driver in a surgical mask. He asked if I did anything fun for Halloween.