Cold Spell

It’s Illinois and the wintry month of January. So it is cold outside. And bright sunshine, too. It works that way: severe cold usually comes with clear deep blue skies filled with ample sunshine. The earth’s heat rises into the stratosphere thus aiding the cooling action.

It is 2 degrees now and a high is forecast for 3. Low temperatures will be 4 below. Winds are steady at 17 miles per hour so wind chills are 17 degrees below zero. Brisk!

Errands will force us out of the home today but our car is in a heated garage and the car itself has electric heat which is instantly effective. Parking in a lot during a meeting or errand will still be OK because the car will operate in this weather quite nicely, and the heat will be readily available. So we are OK. We only need to be dressed to walk from car to building and back. With handicapped parking we are close to the front door. So again, we are good to go.

The cold air is not a distraction. Far from it, it aids clear thinking. Basics are easy to focus on when distractions are absent. That’s one reason libraries are quiet zones. So, too, studies and meditation rooms – quiet, no distractions, calm.

If life gets too noisy or cluttered with distractions we should seek shelter and quiet so the mind and inner spirit can work. If so magic happens. Behold what it does for you.

Better yet, don’t wait for a cold spell to make this happen.

January 20, 2016