The beautiful white carpet may be receding for now but winter is not over. The shortest day has passed but spring is still a long way off. We are fortunate to watch nature's display from the security of our homes with access to food. For us the harsh reality of a serious winter is cushioned by technology and plenty, so we should at least enjoy its ability to transform our world into a magical wonderland. For other creatures life is much harder and for those we have not yet exterminated or whose habitat we have not yet destroyed mere survival through the winter is a battle against the odds. Around 80% of small birds will die. However that is the precarious reality if life as it has been for millennia.

In a sense there is another winter. What my friend Tony calls the winter of the soul. That is a synthetic obstacle created by destroyers, the fear mongers of the New World Order. They try to teach us to be afraid of each other; to take, to own, to steal, to destroy. They are very successful since they use every aspect of human creativity and bend it to their insanity. However so long as we choose to give and share, to love and cherish, to be and understand, the human spirit lives on. Humanity will not perish in their hard winter of the soul for it can survive in any heart and any mind.

I hope you find a warm and friendly place in which to celebrate and play this winter.