Winter... ugh.

Every mile is two in winter. ~George Herbert

Today is Groundhog Day. Yes, we gather together in seeking knowledge of the immediate future, in hopes that our winter is to be short, and our spring imminent.

That said, I must say that it is quite a drag waiting for the weather to get warmer, and the snow to dissipate and give way to grass (brown as it will be, no doubt). Everything takes longer in the winter: leaving the house (shoveling snow and brushing off/scraping the windshield of the car), running errands (factoring in the slower and slippery driving of everyone in front of you on the road), even walking requires more care for fear of slipping and falling.

I wish I could say that I was one of those brave people who love skiing or ice skating (the ice has gotten harder the older I get). Don't get me wrong, I like the changing of the seasons. I like snuggling up in warm blankets in front of a crackling fire. But as the seasons change, the renewal is as important to me as anything that becomes possible with that season. It's another beginning, another start.

Spring cleaning, fresh warm air, the melting of the ice and snow, the appearance of blooms, and the song of birds are welcome. Oh, Phil, may your shadow elude you today.
________________________________________________________

This is Women's Heart Week. Friday is National Wear Red Day, a way to raise awareness for women's heart disease. This is the NUMBER ONE killer of women, so I cannot stress the importance of being well-informed and living a healthy lifestyle.

To learn more about this day and women's heart health in general, go to http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth/.

Only middles.

You're searching, Joe, for things that don't exist; I mean beginnings. Ends and beginnings -- there are no such things. There are only middles. - Robert Frost

You know, I have a bit of a morbid streak. (I think most people do, but they won't admit it.) And I was remembering the day that my beloved Grandpa died some four years ago. My family gathered in the hospital room and we watched him slip away. It wasn't sudden, like you see on TV. It was more of a fading, so much so that we aren't really sure when exactly he was gone. His heartbeat just grew slower and slower, until it was so faint. It was one of the saddest experiences I've ever had, and yet one of the most special. Odd how that works.

So, I thought of him and that day when I first read Robert Frost's wise words, because there really was no defined "death". That moment wasn't clear. But if you think about it, there's so little definition to our beginning. When do we become real? At conception? When we appear human in the ultrasounds? When we're born? When, exactly, is our beginning?

And so I've come to realize that life's definition, its truth isn't defined by birth or death. It's everything in between that's important. Besides birth and death aren't really the beginning and end of anything. Rather, they are continuations, only in different forms. This is comforting, isn't it?

No other gift can compare to a first edition of a treasured book or a signed copy by a favorite author. Give your loved ones priceless memories in collectible books, CDs, and DVDs—available now at very affordable prices from www.alibris.com. Save $3 off $30 when you use the code NOSTALGIA BY December 25th, 2008.