December 17: Touch-and-Go Creek World, Snow Storm, Yoopers

All this means is that the physical world as we understand it now is more like the touch-and-go creek world I see than it is like the abiding world of which the mountains seem to speak . . .

Yes, very little in the physical world is abiding.  Mount Everest.  The Pacific Ocean.  Lake Superior.  Enormous things that leave you breathless.  Maybe.  But even those landscape features are not that eternal.  There's erosion, pollution, earthquakes, avalanches, and blizzards.  If there's one thing that permanent about the physical world, it's impermanence. 

I'm looking outside right now, and all I see is snow.  A lot of snow.  I spent two hours this morning shoveling.  By the time I was done, I could have started all over again.  My guess is that, by the time this little weather event is over, I will have to shovel at least four more times.  This will also involve a great deal of profanity and many milligrams of ibuprofen. 

But, that's what winter in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is:  snow, wind, and changeable driveways and front yards.  It's a cold, long tunnel to Spring.  Nothing slows Yoopers down, though.  For example, my daughter has a dance lesson in a couple hours in Marquette, about 20 miles away.  We will be there for that lesson.  In fact, we'll probably be a little early.  Because that's the way Yoopers roll.

I do love winter.  Love the whole Currier and Ives vibe.  I better, because it will be an abiding presence in my life for the next five or so months.

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