The crater basin on Haleakala

If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend it. It’s extremely cool – especially if you go from sea level to the top in one day.

We did this almost a year ago, on Haleakala. It was amazing: at the summit, you have a short walk up to the top of a nearby peak. This is no more than 1/5th of a mile, yet we could barely catch our breath. ‘Course, I won’t talk about how pathetic my conditioning is, either

On the way down, I nearly passed out – just from trying to take a pic of a bird nearby.  The action of squatting down, tensing, and constricting my oxygen intake was enough to almost drop me.

It was cool, in a weird way.

The guy who nearly did me in:

Bird on Haleakala

To nourish the soul, to escape the cold. Hear the water trickle, the sound of life force replenishing.

Sit beside still waters

Still, would it not be better to get away for a time? Sunlight is essential for the human creature, and we sorely lack vitamin D this time of year.

Escape to Green

When the conditions are right, mostly in February and early March, we get fantastic sunsets

Burning Ice in the Evening Light

The sun is always low. But it gives us a wonderful tone to our light. Golden, soft. Pinks and oranges towards sunset…

Golden Light (at noon)

Still, there is beauty to be found. Clear, cold skies – bright snow, beautiful vistas. One need merely brave the cold.

Cool and crisp

Or perhaps, they merely bow before the might of Winter. Either way, they droop. As does one’s mind.

Trees bow

In other areas, icicles mean you’re losing heat. Here, it’s the direct (cold) sun hitting your roof, creating a semi-runoff – that freezes. All homes have something like this. A lot of trees do, too.

Out the Window

It’s cold. This is usually our coldest time of year – and since we’re locked indoors so much, it’s also one of the most depressing. This was taken on a warm day:

Rushing water freezes