Here in central Illinois, we are in the midst of a weak January thaw. There is still quite a bit of ice and snow cover, and with the damp air, our days have been engulfed in fog, including ice fog at times. The view outside our window is cheerful as the Gulag: melting ice and dirty snow; soggy, rotting leaves from last fall; fog-obscured distances, giving a closed-in feeling; and winter’s grayness in the extreme.
Northern Cardinal (Image by J.A. Lerczak)
But there is an obvious fight against despondency in the air too; every bit of fog-dampened color is a defiant contrast: the green pine trees that I planted several years ago; plump, brown fox squirrels at the bird feeder; red northern cardinals and house finches; and, inside our home, the colorful salad that my wife Julie has made for our lunch. With the kitchen window and the bleakness outside as a backdrop, the salad, with its bright green Romaine lettuce, red cherry tomatoes, orange carrots, and yellow cheese curds, presented another kind of contrast in color and mood to winter’s grip. I thought, with hope and joy, of the food our vegetable garden will produce later this year, of blue skies with billowing clouds, singing birds, and of a warming spring sun – still months away – giving life to the garden and health to the soul.
Bleakness ends with the color of hope.