You can see the architecture of things in winter.

Structures glisten. Naked trees drip with clear popsicles. We find ourselves alone with ourselves. Everyone else has gone away to someplace warmer/better/more fun or else they are tucked indoors. Even when you live in a relatively warm place, winter still haunts. Chilly scenes, indeed. Deep freezes. A glaze crackled over every surface. Bright blizzard whites. Snow drifts. Flannel pajamas. Nights that last too long and are far too quiet. Winter is about longing and unrequited and freezing. Belle and Sebastian sing of the “solitary cell of your mind,” and that’s winter. You know who your friends are in winter. It’s not picnics and days at the lake. It’s heavy coats and lost mittens. Scratchy blankets and the smell of wet wool. And yet, Blake told us to enjoy the winter. Probably good advice.

More than we remember stays green all winter long. There’s something under there, buried under all that muck. Our job is to tease it out; sharpen our gaze to locate it underneath the melting slush and extra blankets. Winter is about finding what saves us, what keeps us company most. We lose ourselves a bit in the cold; yet can find ourselves if we want–find what survives, what endures. The finest work human beings can do is to manufacture hope. Winter gives us a canvas and a reason to do so. We must remind ourselves to revel in the majesty of the cold, the brittle wonder of an ice storm. Go ahead now, mix another hot toddy, figure out how you are going to scrape together the money for the raging electric bill, button up your overcoat … and enjoy this wintry mix. (C. run time: 47:42; direct link for mobile access: http://8tracks.com/anna-march/chilly-scenes-of-winter.)

from anna march on 8tracks.

-1-

“Misspent Youth”

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Hysterical

-2-

“The Boy With the Arab Strap”

Belle and Sebastian

The Boy With the Arab Strap

-3-

“Trans-Continental Hustle”

Gogol Bordello

Trans-Continental Hustle

-4-

“She Left Home” (Instrumental)

Jane Birkin

Arabesque

-5-

“Knee Deep At The NPL”

Camera Obscura

Underachievers Please Try Harder

-6-

“Cold & Wet”

Bonnie “Prince” Billy

The Letting Go

-7-

“’Round About Midnight”

Miles Davis

Highlights From The Plugged Nickel

-8-

“Your Love” (The Outfield Cover)

Bon Iver

Bon Iver Covers

-9-

“Moonlight Mile”

The Rolling Stones

Sticky Fingers (Remastered)

-10-

“World Keeps Turning”

Tom Waits

Orphans

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