January

Today is one of those days of dreary damp cold that slices with a sharp wind through coats and mittens and scarves. The air is heavy with wet: more a threat than a promise. Not quite cold enough for snow flakes, yet not raining either. More like little balls of sleet and misery clanging onto sidewalk, face and roadway alike. A city kind of day, the sky as gray as the underfoot pavement, as gray as my mood. A picture of dreary.

All things green are sodden, and muddied from yesterday's ice. And some confused crocuses have pushed their way into the world, fooled by Kentucky's schizophrenic winter weather, days of delusional spring temperatures keeping us all sick and making days and weeks like today all the more torturous for their memory.

A day for scarves and blankets and a pot of chocolate in the thermos. Kids sipping gladly after an aborted attempt at out-of-doors exercise. A day for a nap.