winter

I remember a time in a class on a cold winter morning a Japanese girl came with a surgical mask & I thought __ow people would go to extremes NOT to get sick in Japan_ afterwards on a break I approached her & asked in a cynical manner: why the mask? Are you afraid of catching a cold? & then she said __n Japan you use it when YOU are under the weather & you don__ want other people to get sick, it is the polite thing to do_ wow! that's a lesson I will never forget

Now that he was teaching Quentin could see why the faculty didn't bother trying to improve the climate. It kept people amazingly focused. _ You could actually watch as the determination to seize the moment and live life to the fullest ebbed right out of them, and they resigned themselves to lonely, silent, indoor study instead.

... but in the winter they were ensconced in a white powder of sparkling snow.

In the winter, the snow had become glittery fairy dust that had given all the creatures of the meadow warm clothes and a fire to help them endure the winter.

She went to the window. A fine sheen of sugary frost covered everything in sight, and white smoke rose from chimneys in the valley below the resort town. The window opened to a rush of sharp early November air that would have the town in a flurry of activity, anticipating the tourists the colder weather always brought to the high mountains of North Carolina. She stuck her head out and took a deep breath. If she could eat the cold air, she would. She thought cold snaps were like cookies, like gingersnaps. In her mind they were made with white chocolate chunks and had a cool, brittle vanilla frosting. They melted like snow in her mouth, turning creamy and warm.

Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people's legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world.

Deep in Decemberit's nice to remember without a hurt the heart is hollow.

The evening's light, silvery, casts its dull brightness onto the trees--trees gelid in this blue light of winter. But whiteness dominates with the pines and evergreens steeped in vibrant grades of silver. I hear notes in the mist, like silvery chattering, coins in a pocket, the jangle of keys. Pg 217

Ice is most welcome in a cold drink on a hot day.But in the heart of winter, you want a warm hot mug with your favorite soothing brew to keep the chill away.When you don__ have anything warm at hand, even a memory can be a small substitute.Remember a searing look of intimate eyes.Receive the inner fire.

When the cold comes to New England it arrives in sheets of sleet and ice. In December, the wind wraps itself around bare trees and twists in between husbands and wives asleep in their beds. It shakes the shingles from the roofs and sifts through cracks in the plaster. The only green things left are the holly bushes and the old boxwood hedges in the village, and these are often painted white with snow. Chipmunks and weasels come to nest in basements and barns; owls find their way into attics. At night,the dark is blue and bluer still, as sapphire of night.

December's wintery breath is already clouding the pond, frosting the pane, obscuring summer's memory...

He raised his hand to brush a stray hair from her face. Instead of dropping his hand, he slid it behind her neck and drew her closer. His earthy pine scent enveloped her. When his lips touched hers, she lost any hope of control.

He hissed and rocked his hips into her. __ou like to bite?_____ a cat, aren__ I?

He stepped into her line of sight and brushed the robe aside to press a tender kiss on her scarred breast. __hey are part of you. I think you are beautiful with them._____ not perfect like other shifters.___ don__ want perfect because it doesn__ exist in any species.

So I am not a broken heart. I am not the weight I lost or miles or ran and I am not the way I slept on my doorstep under the bare sky in smell of tears and whiskey because my apartment was empty and if I were to be this empty I wanted something solid to sleep on. Like concrete. I am not this year and I am not your fault.I am muscles building cells, a little every day, because they broke that day,but bones are stronger once they heal and I am smiling to the bus driver and replacing my groceries once a week and I am not sitting for hours in the shower anymore. I am the way a life unfolds and bloom and seasons come and go and I am the way the spring always finds a way to turn even the coldest winter into a field of green and flowers and new life. I am not your fault.

Nothing comes as an accomplishment instantly. Success does not come overnight. Patience is the key! Grow up and be the tree; but remember it takes dry and wet seasons to become a fruit bearer, achiever and impact maker!

Don__ predict the condition of the entire day by the state of the morning. You don__ judge a book by its cover. A cloudy morning is no guarantee for a rainy day!

He ever offer to walk you home?""I've never asked," Cath said quickly. "I've never asked you either.""That's true," Levi said.More quiet. More cold.The air stung Cath's throat when she finally spoke again. "So maybe you shouldn't.""Don't be ridiculous," Levi said. "That wasn't my point.