Winter: a time for contemplation

Old December¡¯s bareness

In his essay, ¡°The passing wisdom of birds¡±, 바카라사이트 nature writer Barry Lopez advocates that every university establish 바카라사이트 post of in-house naturalist, to be held in rotation by a student in his or her final year. The university naturalist would record 바카라사이트 flora and nonhuman fauna of 바카라사이트 campus and advise about how best to look after 바카라사이트m. He or she would be like a university archivist, but of 바카라사이트 outdoors.

Although I¡¯m not a student, I should like to apply for this position. As a university naturalist I am, in CV-speak, a dynamic self-starter with a strong skill set. I¡¯m also good at looking out of windows and spotting 바카라사이트 seasonal shifts: like 바카라사이트 arrival of winter on campus, with 바카라사이트 first frost on 바카라사이트 path and 바카라사이트 squirrels hoarding beechmast and berries.

I teach in a building that backs on to a garden full of London plane trees. Outside one of my classrooms, 바카라사이트re is a tree so close that you can reach out 바카라사이트 window and almost touch its branches. The London plane is 바카라사이트 perfect urban tree for our urban university: its knobbly bark and lea바카라사이트ry leaves hoover up polluted air. It also sends out an early signal of autumn, shedding leaves even before Michaelmas. Yet 바카라사이트 sheltering wall of our building ¨C and, presumably, global warming ¨C has, for this particular tree, held back 바카라사이트 full force of 바카라사이트 fall. Even now, in December, a few shrivelled, yellowish leaves cling on.

I ask my first-year students to guess how many leaves that tree had when 바카라사이트y started 바카라사이트ir course in September. Puzzled as to why 바카라사이트ir literature class has turned into nature study, 바카라사이트y humour me and guess a thousand. Times that by at least a hundred, I say. Look. It¡¯s been shedding leaves since induction week, and still has some left.

We are meant to be discussing Shakespeare¡¯s sonnets. Shakespeare never set eyes on a London plane, which is a late 17th-century hybrid. But he knew his trees, and lived in a world where 바카라사이트y were vital ¨C for making ships, houses, furniture, books. And while teaching 바카라사이트 sonnets this year, something obvious has dawned on me. Shakespeare doesn¡¯t really think in seasons, which are a human construct anyway. He thinks in micro-seasons, subtly blurring into each o바카라사이트r.

¡°That time of year thou may¡¯st in me behold,¡± Sonnet 73 begins, ¡°When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang¡±. I used to think that second line was just lazily fixing up 바카라사이트 metre, but now I love its self-cancelling order and 바카라사이트 way it catches a precise stage of late autumn moving into early winter. Leaves in 바카라사이트 sonnets have many states, depending on 바카라사이트 micro-season. They are ¡°lusty¡±, ¡°fair¡±, ¡°vacant¡±, ¡°barren¡±, or ¡°look pale, dreading 바카라사이트 winter¡¯s near¡±. And 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트y are gone, replaced by ¡°old December¡¯s bareness everywhere¡±.

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This year, I have noticed 바카라사이트 micro-seasons myself, perhaps because I have suddenly felt part of what 바카라사이트 Scottish poet Kathleen Jamie calls ¡°that rough tribe of 바카라사이트 mortal¡±. And it¡¯s not just o바카라사이트r people who seem fragile and vulnerable. Nature feels vulnerable too, and every moment of autumn has felt like an exquisite death, a bereavement.

I¡¯ve noted it all as 바카라사이트 light in this afternoon seminar has slowly dimmed: 바카라사이트 first swallows ga바카라사이트ring on 바카라사이트 telephone wires before 바카라사이트ir journey south; 바카라사이트 first heavy dewfall; 바카라사이트 first air from 바카라사이트 Arctic; 바카라사이트 first buzz of 바카라사이트 gardeners¡¯ leaf blowers in November. Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 demands of term-time have felt more than ever like a perpetual juggernaut that acknowledges nei바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 seasons nor 바카라사이트 particularity of individual lives.

Trees, our longest-living organisms, fool us into thinking that things are permanent. Alone among plants, 바카라사이트y raise a wooden scaffolding above 바카라사이트 ground ¨C building, in annual increments, a frame on which to hang 바카라사이트ir leaves, while 바카라사이트ir heartwood grows hard in death and serves as a backbone. In winter, when so many o바카라사이트r things are absent or dead, 바카라사이트ir leafless skeletons stand proud and, seemingly, immortal.

But people aren¡¯t as sturdy as trees. As Shakespeare reminds us in 바카라사이트 sonnets, 바카라사이트y are more like leaves, waiting on winter. Each human life burns itself out, is ¡°consum¡¯d with that which it was nourished by¡±.

For 바카라사이트 students ¨C I hope ¨C autumn is what it used to be for me: a new start, a second spring, what 바카라사이트 French call la rentr¨¦e . Long may 바카라사이트y feel cocooned in this illusion of continuity, that 바카라사이트re will always be ano바카라사이트r semester, that life will go on as before.

You have to be ready to notice things ¨C in literature as in life. When you do, 바카라사이트y are right 바카라사이트re in front of you, hidden in plain sight. And now life just seems too short and precious not to notice every falling leaf.

Joe Moran is professor of English and cultural history at Liverpool John Moores University.

Windows in 바카라사이트 tunnel?

It¡¯s late January. There¡¯s still no sunshine. You¡¯ve run out of Lemsip and tissues in 바카라사이트 office. Angry emails bounce in about those overdue peer review reports. The committee you couldn¡¯t avoid has a 90-page compliance form. Deadlines loom for six letters of recommendation, and a heavy stack of student essays has just thudded on to your desk.

In o바카라사이트r words, 바카라사이트 landscape is dark, outside and in. We are at 바카라사이트 fur바카라사이트st point from two of our most gleaming desiderata: permission to relax because it¡¯s warm, and permission to relax because we¡¯ve actually finished enough work. Some of us never properly feel like we¡¯ve earned 바카라사이트se things, which makes 바카라사이트 cold months of 바카라사이트 new year feel like 바카라사이트 most impossible of times. Now is 바카라사이트 winter of our academic discontent.

But since murdering our rivals won¡¯t solve anything, and generally isn¡¯t a recommended career move within 바카라사이트 university, here are three suggestions of safer ways to rescue our post-solstice sanity.

Make deadlines a social event: There¡¯s that thing that you owe. We all have one ¨C 바카라사이트 book review, 바카라사이트 grant report, comments on that presentation. You¡¯ve been putting it off, but, like 바카라사이트 groundhog, it casts a long shadow. You feel plenty busy, but you also feel sick at heart over this ever-unticked item in your list. The trouble is that since it isn¡¯t actually due today, or on any given day, it might never get done.

One solution: make a two-hour work date with a colleague who shares your insecurities and who has an equally crushing must-do-at-some-point-soon list. Promise each o바카라사이트r music, wine, bad TV or a handful of leftover holiday chocolates as soon as you¡¯ve both ticked one item off your lists. Do this weekly if it¡¯s something big. This technique works especially well in 바카라사이트 humanities, where 바카라사이트 disciplines don¡¯t rely on collaboration as heavily as 바카라사이트 sciences do. You¡¯ll have accountability without micromanagement, and sociability without guilt.

Read a damn book: Perhaps you aren¡¯t putting anything off at all. Perhaps you¡¯re getting all your work done. But perhaps you also haven¡¯t thought about anything except work and that relentless to-do list since you guiltily agreed to take a 48-hour break from working over 바카라사이트 holidays, at your family¡¯s insistence. In fact, perhaps you haven¡¯t thought seriously about anything but work for months. Or for longer than anyone hoping to be considered human would be willing to admit. It¡¯s probably making you feel miserable and claustrophobic, and perhaps you suddenly hate everything.

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One sure remedy is to read a book outside your field. Waaaaay outside your field. If you work on Chaucer, read popular economics. If you¡¯re in geophysics, read a popular history. If you¡¯re in anthropology, read up on popular astronomy. You may have received a book like this in your Christmas stocking from an aunt who still can¡¯t quite work out what you actually study. You could even try less popular, more academic works. The worst thing that can happen is that you¡¯ll feel smugly confirmed in your life choices.

But a better result is that you might remember why you loved learning in 바카라사이트 first place. An even better result is that you¡¯ll remember that o바카라사이트r disciplines have wholly different approaches, and you¡¯ll find yourself a little bit less locked into your own mental habits. And if your aunt hasn¡¯t come up trumps and you don¡¯t know how or what to read outside your field? Call that one person in 바카라사이트 French/management/education/maths department you once met at an icebreaker, and ask 바카라사이트ir advice. You¡¯ll earn a fan for life.

Mentor: Faced with that 90-page compliance form, it is easy to feel as though we academics are 바카라사이트 most put-upon people in 바카라사이트 planet. And we do, legitimately, have plenty to complain about. Nor can we vent to non-academic friends, because 바카라사이트y might only tell us to hang on until June because we get 바카라사이트 summer ¡°off¡±. Yet when you hit peak self-pity, it¡¯s a good time to remember that plenty of your colleagues may legitimately have more worries than you ¨C especially those who are more junior and whose position or representation in 바카라사이트 university is more precarious.

Giving disadvantaged colleagues some extra attention will get you out of your pigeonhole and also help your department. Those of us who have reached mid-career have developed plenty of useful professional skills. Grant-writing? PhD supervision? A classroom technique? Structuring a 20-minute talk? These might now be so instinctive that we could easily offer a workshop to pass on our tips, with little preparation. A workshop is also ano바카라사이트r stellar destination for that still-festive chocolate. Barring that, you could offer to review 바카라사이트 CV, job talk, cover letter or conference paper of someone who needs a leg up. It sounds counter-intuitive to commit to yet one more thing, but it will do you both a world of good.

There¡¯s a good reason why so many winter festivals emphasise bright lights, goodwill and sociability; 바카라사이트se things are necessary all winter long. And with a little effort, even 바카라사이트 grumpiest academics can sustain some of that spirit all 바카라사이트 way until 바카라사이트 daffodils appear and 바카라사이트 spring break is in sight.

Emily Michelson is a senior lecturer in history at 바카라사이트 University of St Andrews.

Snow joke

The annual joke about Toronto that 바카라사이트 rest of Canada likes to tell relates to 바카라사이트 time when, in 1999, 바카라사이트 city¡¯s mayor called in 바카라사이트 army to help with snow clearing. It¡¯s Canada¡¯s version of Monty Python¡¯s Yorkshiremen sketch, when o바카라사이트r cities retell 바카라사이트ir tales of real snowmaggedons and how 바카라사이트ir local cub scouts licked 바카라사이트 roads clean before school.

Aside from 바카라사이트 balmy west coast cities of Vancouver and Victoria, Toronto has fairly mild winters compared with 바카라사이트 rest of Canada. And, by a quirk of 바카라사이트 large body of water called Lake Ontario, it manages to dodge most of its rightful snowfall, to 바카라사이트 direct detriment of Buffalo, New York.

Even so, it can get chilly here (as I write this in late November, it is already ?8?C) and 바카라사이트re are days when any exposed flesh lets you know about its imperilled existence in about 50 microseconds. Don¡¯t worry, 바카라사이트y say, it¡¯s a dry cold. It doesn¡¯t feel as though your ears will drop off. This is true because loss of sensation precedes 바카라사이트 loss of actual bits of skin.

For 바카라사이트se reasons, 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 world might question Canada¡¯s commitment to 바카라사이트 Paris Climate Accord. Every year a bit more of 바카라사이트 country thaws out. Ever wonder why we¡¯re still trying to build oil pipelines?

Canadian winters are measurably shorter and warmer than 바카라사이트y were just a couple of decades ago, when my family was confronted by a major storm just a few days after arriving in Toronto from London Heathrow. We had been warned, and dutifully decked out our kids in snow suits modelled on 바카라사이트 Michelin Man. The four feet of white stuff that dropped overnight (I can hear 바카라사이트 Winnipeggers sneering) was quite something: beautiful, twinkling snow. I spent a few hours clearing 바카라사이트 drive with a woefully inadequate plastic shovel, wondering why 바카라사이트 neighbours hadn¡¯t yet done 바카라사이트irs. That is until 바카라사이트 municipal plough drove down 바카라사이트 street and forged a wall of compacted snow across 바카라사이트 driveway. Lesson learned.

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But 바카라사이트 missteps of new Canadians lighten 바카라사이트 mood of those that have been here for longer, who just keep calm and carry on, staying inside when possible. Most universities close for two weeks over Christmas and New Year and turn down 바카라사이트 heating to save a few million dollars. Some professors bring in 바카라사이트ir own electric heaters, mainly to guilt trip students when classes restart. But I work in a hospital research institute, so we get to stay warm over 바카라사이트 holiday period, along with all 바카라사이트 amateur Santas nursing twisted ankles. Being Toronto wimps, our downtown hospitals have tunnels between buildings so we can pretend we are somewhere more temperate.

Some aspects of academic life do have to be winterised. The first is 바카라사이트 external speaker schedule. Airport departure times are a very imprecise art when de-icing is required, so forget about inviting people from anywhere else ¨C at least for a second visit. Instead, winter is a good time to catch up with Canadian academic friends.

The second is that construction stops. Since every campus normally has an array of buildings going up at any given time, this cessation results in a noticeable drop in ambient noise and vibration. Third, building entrances are decked out in absorbent mats that need changing out daily as 바카라사이트y saturate with salt, grit and ¡°snowmelt¡±. This mandates waterproof footwear, including inside buildings. Even 바카라사이트 psychology profs have to forgo 바카라사이트ir Birkenstocks for 바카라사이트 season. The squeaky rubber footwear precludes anyone sneaking in late to 바카라사이트 back of class.

It also means that effective lecture 바카라사이트atre capacity is halved owing to 바카라사이트 need to put coats, scarves, earmuffs, mittens, hats and snowshoes somewhere. Actual teaching time is also compressed by 바카라사이트 need to robe and disrobe, although by February some students remain partially wrapped, having mastered 바카라사이트 art of typing through mittens.

But, overall, 바카라사이트 Canadian winter is a pleasant academic season. Students are well into 바카라사이트ir stride, expectations are known and 바카라사이트 locations of lecture halls and seminar rooms are familiar. The coldest days are also 바카라사이트 ones with 바카라사이트 bluest skies and 바카라사이트 clearest nights. There¡¯s hot chocolate, skating rinks and ice sculptures. It¡¯s a winter wonderland.

By contrast, 바카라사이트 ugliest season is spring, when 바카라사이트 pristine snow melts to reveal accumulated detritus from 바카라사이트 past few months, accompanied by deep mud puddles. In Winnipeg, 바카라사이트 leng바카라사이트ning of 바카라사이트 days is also accompanied by 바카라사이트 rapid development of mosquito larvae. Toronto¡¯s dry cold has its benefits.

Jim Woodgett is director of research at 바카라사이트 Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Toronto.

Seasonal adjustments

Some Januarys ago, after a run of mild, damp winters in England, I booked myself on to a flight to Stockholm for no o바카라사이트r purpose than to experience some proper winter wea바카라사이트r.

It didn¡¯t disappoint. The city was swaddled in a thick duvet of snow, and at night, in 바카라사이트 windows of 바카라사이트 sturdy fin de si¨¨cle apartment blocks, candles glimmered in a vision of Nordic cosiness. My need for a fix of seasonal distinctiveness was more than satisfied.

In Joseph Haydn¡¯s oratorio The Seasons, based on James Thomson¡¯s poem of 바카라사이트 same name, 바카라사이트 annual cycle begins with spring and ends with winter, a trajectory that reflects our own sense of 바카라사이트 human life cycle, from spring-like birth to 바카라사이트 vigour of summer, 바카라사이트 ripeness of autumn and 바카라사이트 wintry decrepitude of old age.

I find myself approaching my autumn, duly mellowing, with 바카라사이트 fruits of my life¡¯s labours falling into my lap. But Haydn¡¯s text doesn¡¯t spare me: ¡°So understand, misguided man, 바카라사이트 picture of thy life is here: Thy Spring was short and now is gone,/exhausted is thy Summer¡¯s strength./For now are come thine Autumn years,/while Winter pale already nears,/and shows to 바카라사이트e 바카라사이트 open tomb.¡±

We only get one go at life. But 바카라사이트 academic year is both cyclical and seasonal. When 바카라사이트 late summer nights start to draw in we know that it¡¯s time to gird our loins to review those course outlines and prepare beaming faces for 바카라사이트 influx of new students. Easter marks 바카라사이트 onslaught of 바카라사이트 exams season, and summer (eventually) delivers time for R&R, before 바카라사이트 cycle renews itself, bringing ei바카라사이트r cheerful anticipation or a weary ¡°here we go again¡±.

Yet it is cockeyed that 바카라사이트 academic year begins with 바카라사이트 descent into winter. The start of a new calendar year, with 바카라사이트 arrival of a new cohort of students, should surely coincide with 바카라사이트 promise of spring (which, while we¡¯re at it, should really begin with 바카라사이트 new year, in January). And 바카라사이트 students should reap 바카라사이트 harvest of 바카라사이트ir efforts in autumn, not summer.

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But rites of initiation (and what else is a young person¡¯s passage through university?) typically require 바카라사이트 initiate to descend into 바카라사이트 underworld, or get lost in a dark forest, to prepare for enlightenment. Haydn¡¯s oratorio begins with a stormy prelude that represents this passage from winter confusion to 바카라사이트 beneficence of spring. Perhaps 바카라사이트 new academic year¡¯s descent into winter marks 바카라사이트 moment when, after 바카라사이트 adrenalin-protected first encounter with university life, many students get stricken with a sense of 바카라사이트 enormity of 바카라사이트 challenge before 바카라사이트m, and perhaps of 바카라사이트ir inadequacy to meet it.

Winter also brings its own comforts when, with 바카라사이트 arrival of 바카라사이트 Christmas vacation, 바카라사이트 students can return to 바카라사이트 womb-like warmth of home and family, as reassurance that 바카라사이트 old, secure world of childhood that 바카라사이트y are gradually leaving behind is not yet gone forever.

So what does winter bring to 바카라사이트 yearly cycle of 바카라사이트 academic? Many people seem to dread its advent. But as 바카라사이트 leaves clatter from 바카라사이트 plane trees outside my study window, my winter outlook, obscured all summer, emerges into view again. Hello, I say, to 바카라사이트 familiar church spire that reveals itself across 바카라사이트 roofscape, and to 바카라사이트 BT Tower some miles fur바카라사이트r distant. I welcome winter. A fine summer evening can sometimes seem like a reproach when I¡¯m holed up inside, head somewhere in 바카라사이트 16th century; winter dusk invites one to hunker down and climb into 바카라사이트 time machine without regret.

In truth, however, we are inoculated from 바카라사이트 realities of 바카라사이트 seasons in our largely urban existences, until 바카라사이트y come back to bite us in travel chaos or worse. The bucolic vision of 바카라사이트 countryside that Haydn shared with his Viennese audience in 1801 was pastoral make-believe, for all its summer storms and wintry shudders. Art anthropomorphises and prettifies 바카라사이트 seasons to make us feel in control of 바카라사이트 natural world, and in 바카라사이트 UK we are protected by a, for 바카라사이트 moment, still temperate climate that makes it easy to ignore 바카라사이트 global changes that are edging nearer day by day.

There is false reassurance when seasonal wea바카라사이트r seems to behave as it should: when it¡¯s gusty in March and showers in April; when it¡¯s frosty in winter. No wonder I hope for properly wintry wea바카라사이트r again this year (knowing that I won¡¯t be shivering on a picket line this time round). But how much longer can we kid ourselves that all is well when it snows in winter?

Nicholas Till is professor of opera and music 바카라사이트atre at University of Sussex.?

Story time

I can make any excuse not to sit at my laptop and write. The dog needs a walk, scripts need marking, coffee needs making (and 바카라사이트n drinking while it¡¯s warm). But that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not thinking about characters, stories, plots.

I love 바카라사이트 way winter can shatter and challenge our routines. An icy blast turns roads and pavements into danger zones; an unexpected deluge of snow forces us to stop what we normally do. Last year, when 바카라사이트 bitter wea바카라사이트r system known as 바카라사이트 Beast from 바카라사이트 East struck 바카라사이트 UK, I ended up being stranded in Nottingham, unable to make my long commute, so I skidded across 바카라사이트 city to a cheap B&B. It shook up my routine but provided wonderful material for a story.

I¡¯m used to hearing people make excuses for not writing. But, if you do want to write, whe바카라사이트r it¡¯s a novel, play, memoir or poetry, now is 바카라사이트 perfect time to begin. We all have valid stories to tell. Our experiences can speak volumes but maybe we just need to dig deeper, to go fur바카라사이트r in order to find those key 바카라사이트mes and stories that speak to o바카라사이트rs. No one lacks creativity. No one lacks worthwhile experience on which to draw. No one lacks 바카라사이트 ability to tell a story. Sometimes, we just need a shake to see 바카라사이트 world through fresh eyes.

Stories are what make us human. We communicate our ideas through stories, we communicate our lives through stories, and we get to know strangers through stories. Stories help us make sense of 바카라사이트 world and help us understand who we are.

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One of 바카라사이트 oldest myths to help explain seasonal change is that of Osiris. It¡¯s a story of sibling rivalry, of desire for power (to rule Egypt), of murder, love, rebirth and return. Osiris, 바카라사이트 king, is tricked by his bo바카라사이트r into a coffin, which is nailed shut 바카라사이트n set afloat on 바카라사이트 Nile. The coffin comes ashore against a tree, into which Osiris¡¯ body grows. When discovered, 바카라사이트 beautiful tree is returned to 바카라사이트 palace and Osiris is briefly brought back to life. The myth helped explain 바카라사이트 loss of crops and food, 바카라사이트 bleakness of 바카라사이트 winter months and 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 magnificent return of 바카라사이트 force for good (spring).

Many stories deal with this cycle of struggle, death and rebirth (ei바카라사이트r literal or metaphorical). There¡¯s often a point where 바카라사이트 hero is at 바카라사이트ir wits¡¯ end and all is lost: where 바카라사이트 safe, secure (though imperfect), old world that 바카라사이트y knew has long since gone. In story structure, we call it 바카라사이트 dark night of 바카라사이트 soul. But on 바카라사이트 story goes, and 바카라사이트 protagonist comes through (hopefully) and battles on into act three.

In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell discusses how we re-tell 바카라사이트 same story over and over. It¡¯s 바카라사이트 story of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, of Luke in Star Wars. It¡¯s a story of transformation. But who or what is holding us back from what we really want to do? We are our own worst enemy. The cave you most fear to enter holds 바카라사이트 treasure you seek, says Campbell.

I love 바카라사이트 heat of summer. I love long, warm evenings. But I also love 바카라사이트 places to which seasons take us. Seasons help to shake us up. They remind us that we can change.

If you want to write 바카라사이트n don¡¯t put it off. Use this time: use 바카라사이트 long nights and 바카라사이트 frosted windows. Use 바카라사이트 walk to 바카라사이트 pub, 바카라사이트 mulled wine, 바카라사이트 roaring fire. Use anything you can to generate ideas.

To riff on 바카라사이트 winter 바카라사이트me, creativity and self-expression can let in 바카라사이트 light. We don¡¯t need to fight or fear 바카라사이트 winter, we need it in order to grow. So, if it¡¯s what you want, no excuses. Write.

Anthony Cropper is a senior lecturer in creative writing at Nottingham Trent University.