17 Years Later: Dead In Winter


I know the correct phrase is "dead of winter" -- meaning the midpoint of the season when the greatest misery is suffered -- but today dead in winter is a more apt term.

Today is February 2, Groundhog Day. Of course a major storm has hit this area, the northeastern corner of New York State, AKA the tundra. Most places are closed; nowhere to go. If it's not massive amounts of snow, the deep freeze temps confine one to his warm den.

Back in February 1994 I started my zine, Ray X X-Rayer, to have something to do during the long bitterly-cold nights. I don't have the eXact date when I conceived the first issue so I've decided to celebrate the birthday of RX XR on Groundhog Day. And why not? It's a goofy day that uses myth to predict the future, the great unknown, in this case how long winter will last.

I already know the answer. This is indeed the middle of winter. Some of the worse snowstorms hit in March. April can see more snow and even May on some occasions isn't spared from the dreaded white stuff. Six months of winter, anyone?

So at this point I am dead in winter -- well, let's day half-alive. I'm not quite dead yet. I do have my moments of activity, creative bursts, but as a solar-powered being who tolerates too many overcast days, my energy is limited. Usually I respond to comments on my blog and also comment at the blogs I follow, but not lately. Just not enough energy.

But today I'm working on the latest issue of my zine and writing this post so I'm doing more than being dead asleep all the time.

The calendar on my wall: twelve months of tropical beach scenes. Why do I need snow scenes when I'm surrounded by that crap for about half of each year?


(Corrections made: 2/9/11.)