Gray Winter Daze

The leaves have fallen from the trees, and the clouds now hang over Illinois like a shroud of gray. I think back to the days of summer, when the water was cool and clean and crisp. I rolled kayaks with my friend Guinness in a clear quarry lake, and I paddled with Bruce at Busse Woods, all without more than a polyester shirt and shorts. And now, three months later, with the time change and the sun further from earth, the RiverPark has turned golden, the trees are leaf-bare, there are no kayakers launching from Geneva Kayak above the dam, and winter's thin cold fingers glaze my windshield every morning. Winter solstice--aka "the turn"-- is about 34 days away. I continue to trudge along through the daily grind and dream of warm weather, sea kayaks, and bicycling to my favorite used bookstore in St. Charles.

If there were no cold, dark and gray, we'd have less appreciation for the sunny warmth and vibrancy of summer.