I attempted the drive to school today, but the New England weather forced me back home after twenty minutes of sliding sideways in my little car. My feelings about winter, along with the precipitation are mixed. But right now, nestled under a blanket with a fire blazing and three of my cats curled up at my feet, I am content. Instead of trudging to classes at the only school that doesn’t cancel them, I am finishing up an essay on Billy Collins for Verse Writing. My Siberian huskies are both asleep and blessedly quiet on their respective beds, and I feel that I could be transported into a Norman Rockwell painting at any moment. These are the gentle moments of winter, when I am tucked away, napping, reading and catching up with unfinished work. This is the part of winter that gets overlooked and undervalued when I am shoveling my driveway or waiting for my dog to find the most perfect spot to pee when it’s twenty below and the wind is whipping and my feet are cold. The weather here in New England is always a topic of conversation, in the store, walking down the street, or waiting in line at the bank. Most of it is negative, “It’s going to snow, again” gasp. We bond in our mutual loathing of all things not mild, sunny and 70 degrees. I am sure the words, “please no more winter,” will come out of my mouth at some point in the near future, but for right now I would like to bask in the warmth of all things wintry and cozy, the hot cocoa, the fireplace, and the falling snow which coats the trees, and makes the world sparkle. Today, my personal snow day will be a physical act of gratitude for this season, and the turning within that is a necessary contrast to going out into the world. This quiet time and space will allow me the energy needed to face my day tomorrow, with the papers due, the driveway to be shoveled, and the groceries waiting to be purchased.
● About Me
I wrote and published my first blog post on May 26, 2009. I was about to turn 36 and had been accepted to Mount Holyoke College as a non-traditional student, on my way to completing a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Medieval Studies. I had managed, finally, to know what general direction I was traveling. As a self proclaimed voracious reader I knew that I needed a vocation that would allow me to engage daily with words: reading words, writing words, and hearing words. I also needed to eat, so I navigated my way to a teaching position and I began to fine tune my craft. I love to teach and I love my students, but I also needed to continue to hone my own literary technique, voice, and style. I continued my education in order to delve deeper into literature, making connections, and most definitely, writing. I gained more confidence as a reader as well as a writer of both creative and analytical text. That first blog post in 2009 is short, the writing average, and the topic mundane, but as I continued to learn from other writers I began to understand that to become a better writer I needed to write more. Each time I write and release a poem, a post, or a story, I hone my skills. I invite you along for the ride, for this journey of mine as I attempt to wrangle a wealth of ideas and competing directions into an organized freshly paved path to publication. I might get distracted along the way, but sometimes those detours lead us to amazing views and new friends.
Laura Smith Writer 
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