A minute ago, a glance at the woods outside my window was clear and now tiny white specks are falling from the sky like powdered sugar shook through a sieve. All I see is covered in a dusting of tiny white specks. There is a soft sweetness that comes over me when I watch snowflakes that fall in straight and true lines from above.

The snow comes after a sharp cold snap. The bitter cold reminded me to appreciate the warmth in life. In words, deeds, the saffron orange flames lapping at the wood stove glass and snowflakes floating down like powdered sugar.

Below is an excerpt from the book I wrote, Sweet Wisdoms. The piece was written during a grueling period of below zero temperatures that stretched all living creatures to the limits of their breaking point.

Keep a warm heart in a cold world and you won’t become a bitter person.

Cruel Cold

Here in Wisconsin, it’s freeze-your-nose-hairs-together and turn-your-whiskers-frosty kind of weather. As I make my morning rounds of chores, I keep pulling my hat down and my long underwear up! You can feel the landscape’s bones on these sharp cold days. I delight in the simplicity of winter~ stay warm. Bitter cruel cold, you can’t make me a bitter cruel cold person!

Author: sweetwisdoms

Angeline Haen was raised on a small dairy farm in Sobieski, Wisconsin, where the love of the earth and all things of nature collected in her heart. She and her husband, Andy, steward a forty-five acre hobby farm and tend to the needs of two teenagers, four beehives, a 110 pound yellow lab named Wally, two and a half horses, flower beds, berry patches and gardens. Her first book, Sweet Wisdoms, was released by Shanti Arts Publishing in February 2017. In 2015 two of her poems were published in the Wicwas publication entitled Safe To Chew. When she’s not writing, you can find her sharing some lov'n from her oven, driving a school bus or watching grass grow. View all posts by sweetwisdoms