It’s cold this morning – -33C with a wind chill of -39C. Some school bus routes have been cancelled. Steam from chimneys and exhaust fumes from vehicles mingle and hang in the air. Warmth will be needed to be outside today; what is worn will count as will the food used to keep the body’s furnace going and primed. It will be good to be moving rather than to stand still. And, in a day or two we’ll round that corner of the earth’s orbit marked by Winter solstice (that darkest, longest night of the year) and then we’ll begin our return trek back to days with more and longer hours of light.

Images – winter scenes around High Level, Alberta.

Quote to Consider – “Photographs really are experience captured, and the camera is the ideal arm of consciousness in its acquisitive mood. To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge — and, therefore, like power.” – Susan Sontag, On Photography

Listening to – Loreena McKennitt, a celtic exploration of music – songs in my hearing include ‘Mummers’ Dance, Huron ‘Beltane’ Fire Dance and Annachie Gordon; I was surprised to find Canadian, Loreena McKennitt’s version of Annachie Gordon showing up on Irish radio playlists last night.