January: Death's Doorway

Bundle up and get a grip.

Our first true snowfall of the season here in the Blue Ridge Mountains happened in mid-January, resulting in four inches with a high of 30 degrees and a low of seven. As observed through my bedroom window, it seemed metaphorically akin to Glenda, the Good Witch of the North: soft, transparent, gentle, kind and clean, but with a bit too much blush. Compa…