“Winter is a lesson about the fine art of loss and growth. Its lesson is clear: There is only one way out of struggle, and that is by going into the darkness, waiting for the light, and being open to new growth.” Joan Chittister
The grid is full of wonderlands all the time – but it is those that pop up during this winter season that seem particularly wonder-full to me. I hop from one to another wandering about, taking images, and always learning something new.
There are great blog posts about snowy places to visit on the grid. Look at The Bergdorf Reports by Kate Bergdorf or Inera Pey’s, Living in a Modem World. I assume most SL peeps read them both on a regular basis, but if you don’t – I strongly encourage you to do. I miss Ziki Quest – even going back and re-reading some of her posts are thought-provoking exercises. I hope she is well wherever she is.
Winter, as the darkest time of the year for those of us in the northern hemisphere, is also a time of transformation.
Nights passed by, snowfalls and solstices;
time passed in minutes and millennia. Eugenio Montejo
There is a beauty in the gently falling snow. All quiet – all equal. The alley is beautiful, the woods are beautiful, the ruts in the road are beautiful…and silent. Sound is muffled, the crunches of tires moving slowly down a street, or the soft whoooosh of a small accumulation of snow falling to the ground from a branch.
Here are two of my favorite places for Winter reflection. I am fans of both.
Winter is a season of intimacy and reflection – we can stay inside, look inside. Artist Andrew Wyeth said, “I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape—the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.” Reminds me of the SL work (most long gone) by AM RADIO, especially The Space Between These Trees. Or The Quiet, as taken by noob photographer – me.
AM Radio’s The Quiet
Gazing at the frozen world outside it’s easy to believe everything is dead. But the trees are dormant, not dead. Sap is stored in roots and will rise again in spring. Bulbs, seeds and other creatures buried or hibernating beneath the snow will sprout or spring up before we know it. Winter is the season of hope. You have hope in your heart for what is to follow, despite the cold and the dark outside.
Bebu has a side that is warm and a side that is a blizzard. (I couldn’t decide.) Well I could and I did – but that is a story for another post. Yesterday I was sitting in the middle of the blizzard next to a Mistero Hifeng sculpture. The weather out the windows on this side of the screen was the same – a dramatic snowfall being blown about by the wind. A certain kind of dizziness from looking back and forth from one to another made me laugh. If you know Hifeng’s work, parts of it sometimes look as if it is blowing apart into particles. This was blending right into the snow blustering around it – looking wonderful. I invite you to come and take a look, and I apologize for the long gaps between posts.
New Year’s resolution?
smallthingsworthseeing 