I'm trying to read each volume in this series at the height of its season. But this was the winter of the polar vortex, and it got to be just a bit much reading about winter while battling it on a daily basis as well. That shouldn't reflect on the book itself, though, which is a fine work on its own. It's a mixture of poetry, essays, memoirs, fiction, and sacred writings gathered into five categories: winter as times of sorrow, scouring, shoring ourselves up, purity, and delight. I appreciate how the mood of the book shifts from somewhat grim to upbeat: it's a good way to organize this sort of topic. My favorite selections were "Wickedness" by Ron Hansen (a good story; I may track it down to read it in its entirety one day), Rachel Carson's "Winter Haven" (winter from the perspective of ocean fish—I'm a child of the Midwest myself, and this was totally new to me), and E. B. White's "The Winter of the Great Snows" (a lighthearted take on winter from the last section of the book). Someday, I will have to try reading this book during a milder winter and see if I like it even more. ( )

Gethsemani trip, 4-2013