\u2018Twas the night, yes, before Christmas, and I invited Old Man Winter into my home.\u00c2\u00a0 He gratefully accepted a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows, took off his wool gloves, and sat by the fireplace.<\/p>\n
Though old, as his name implied, he was strong and alert.\u00c2\u00a0 He talked about this year\u2019s Harvest Feast.\u00c2\u00a0 He likes pumpkin soup.\u00c2\u00a0 I do not.\u00c2\u00a0 We talked about snowstorms in December.\u00c2\u00a0 He laughed and said that, in June and July, he often visits Chile and Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t bring the cold,\u201d he confided.\u00c2\u00a0 \u201cI merely witness it.\u201d<\/p>\n
We talked about hockey and snow angels, icicles, sleighs, and the moral implications of using coal as eyes.\u00c2\u00a0 He claimed to have climbed Kilimanjaro, twice, to touch the equatorial glaciers.\u00c2\u00a0 He told me about the winter carnivals that no longer circled the globe, their trapeze artists flying through the air, the polar bears, the juggling clowns in blue and silver suits.<\/p>\n
After finishing his hot chocolate he pulled his gloves back on, threw on his long winter coat, and said, \u201cThere\u2019s much to do tonight.\u00c2\u00a0 Much to witness.\u201d<\/p>\n
I watched from my apartment window as he walked down the street, but I\u2019m not so sure I actually saw what I saw.\u00c2\u00a0 He reached the last building on the road, looked around once, then bounded up the side, window ledge to window ledge, utilizing crevices I couldn\u2019t see in the bricks.\u00c2\u00a0 On the rooftop, he cast out a net and captured the bitingly cold wind, all of the wind, until the air was still.\u00c2\u00a0 He folded the net down, folding again and again until it was small enough to fit into his pocket, then looked back at me and winked.<\/p>\n
Old Man Winter said, and I\u2019m quite sure I heard him as though he stood beside me whispering, \u201cHope the holiday season warms your heart, my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then he was gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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