I find myself depressed that it’s not winter enough. I look out my windows and see brown, not white. I’m craving the white stuff and the comfort the flakes bring. I went for a walk yesterday and despaired at the need to remove my windbreaker. I want to put every layer on that I own and feel the cold on my bare face. I want the trails to myself again. I want to hear the silence that only a winter forest can bring. I want to walk the streets alone at night knowing there’s no chance of anything nefarious befalling me.

I want, I want, I want…what? Chicago? Unlike here, in Chicago I didn’t drive or shovel, leaving me free to bask in luxurious walks on city streets as much as I wanted. Remember the Polar Vortex of 2014? Did you see this? I see that and think of my old apartment on Hoyne and the hissing radiator and good times without a deadline. Because if there’s one thing winter has the power to do it’s the way it forces you to simplify.

As beautiful as fall is – as beautiful as the trees and streams are – winter is what stirs my imagination. I need some of that stirring right now. I need to snap out of this and I am counting on the cold to lift me. There is something so magical about a fresh blanket of snow. Snow in the lights. Snow in the dark. Snow on a cozy couch.

It spotlights a beauty that might never be noticed otherwise.

Musical inspiration provided by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson.