Maybe it's the sight of what's here and what's not that reminds me of summertime when a chlorophyll rich canopy of lush grapevines dot the landscape.

Maybe it is the recent research I’ve done into the weather that has informed me that we get a daily average of 2.5 hours of sunlight at this time of year.

Maybe it is the knowledge that I gave my S.A.D. light to my darling daughter and the adapter has disappeared.

Maybe it’s the work I've been putting off until I couldn't anymore.

Maybe these things have kept me away from writing anything even though I wanted to.

I did consider writing a post on how the Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council banned the playing of Dire Straits’ song, Money For Nothing but I lost my passion on that. If people can’t tell satirizing and cultural commentary then I guess I’ll miss hearing that song on classic rock radio while driving and watch it here on YouTube instead.

Maybe it’s that I am finally feeling well after that misdiagnosed sinus infection turned out to be an undetected abscessed tooth putting me through worse agony than childbirth. Add to that three plus weeks of antibiotics left my wine glass virtually empty. Yes, I cheated and drank on New Year’s Eve.

And now that root canal is finally done, I can rest assured that the only pain I have in that regard is the $1,065 bill from my dentist.

Finally, it feels that my personal New Year is beginning!

So, I played a bit of hooky yesterday, went outside (it was only -10) on a rare sunny January day and snapped a few shots.

Driving back I had the awareness the quality of light is changing. If only minute-by-minute, it is staying lighter longer. And well, if our winter started in November, it’s nearly half over. Hopefully.

And that maybe in the dead of winter when the fruit trees that once hung heavy with apricots, peaches and pears stand bare, their stark beauty is a reminder that nature is ever at work.

 Orchards in Niagara

Though a bit blurry this one below (taken through a window) spoke to me for obvious reasons. 

It also reminded me that despite appearances and feeling productive only under the pressure of deadlines that maybe I am transforming too. 

    (sumac through the window)

Coming home I decided to indulge in a little habit developed over the years. Taking my own slant on Carl Jung’s ideas of synchronicity I randomly choose a book or dictionary and let it fall open, reading the first words I see. I hold the notion (maybe delusionally so), that in the chaos of the universe there might be a personal message for me.

I picked up a beautiful hardcover book by Jill Krementz, called The Writer’s Desk. It fell open to page 96 showing a fabulous photo of Tennessee Williams standing over his typewriter reaching for a wine glass. Beside it were Williams' words.

“I have my coffee and ruminate on what I’m going to work on. I go to my studio and usually have some wine there. And then I carefully go over what I’ve written the day before. You see, baby, after a glass or two of wine I’m inclined to extravagance, ... so I’ll use a blue pencil a lot the next day. Then I sit down and begin to write." 

I'm taking this as a sign. Maybe now a spell of creativity will unfold and flow like the long-awaited wine in my glass.

I’ll drink to that.

***  © Scarlett Sumac. 2011. Words and photos.