Welcome to Almanac. I'm Emily Thompson and today we're exploring the season of winter. Hello, today I hope you're warm. It seems synchronistic that this episode is coming for me during the

winteriest moments I've experienced in Chattanooga since moving here almost nine years

ago and for so many across North America who have also experienced a

wild week of winter, in some cases bringing the coldest temperatures on record.

As I began prepping for this episode, I did so sitting on my front porch, all bundled up with a steaming

cup of tea watching it snow.

We don't get a lot of snow here in Chattanooga.

Usually we get a single snow day each year, so I sat there on that day

writing some notes for this episode thinking it would be the usual that we'd get

one day of beautiful snow and that it would be gone the next. And so I sat there all bundled up,

soaking it up, not knowing that it would stay for days, which is the first time that

I witnessed such a thing since moving here. We closed the store for three whole days last week with the fourth day being open but really just I was in there putting out new products and doing a bit of rearranging. I've stayed bundled up even while being here as the folks have come in and now

opening the door to the below freezing temperatures outside. Maybe needless to say, it's the perfect time to share some thoughts about the winter season.

I'll begin with, I don't like winter. It is my least favorite season. I'm a summer

girly. I was born in July. I have thin

southern skin. My ideal weather is sunny and 85 degrees with 90% humidity. I have a

neighbor from the Northeast who calls me a salamander and I'm not even

mad about it because it resonates. Even if you don't share my love of sweaty

heat because I know that's rare. Even if you like the cold, most people don't love the

themes of winter. Most of our modern cultures don't value rest and reflection. We're not comfortable with death

and decay. Solitude or even being alone with our own thoughts is not how we

strive to spend our days. And so it's through this lens that I want to begin this

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