PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 14, 2026
There’s nothing like the apricity of January and February. The light starts returning as soon as we celebrate the shortest day in December. We are supposed to hunch, shrug and bear it — but I like winter, watching the days lengthen and the light return. I like the effort. This is the most wonderful time of the year — clear, bright, blue, bugless, contemplative and snug. Winter gets a bad rap. It’s not just cold temperatures and suffering. Winter sounds are often subtle; sometimes fierce; always distinct. If I went away from winter, I would miss crunching snow underfoot, the ice falling off frozen birch branches and the “whomp” of heavy snow being shed by the fir trees, or the inner cracking of pines in the deep cold. ~ Todd R. Nelson, Penobscot