Though it’s been snowing all over the blogosphere, here on Dream Tree Bayou, it’s not quite cold enough for the manna to fall from the sky. A frosty morning could easily fool the hardiest of dreamers, including yours truly.

In spite of our snowless existence in the Deep South, I find winter on the water positively dreamy. When a cold front disturbs the stillness of the night, you can hear it before you can feel it. Wind tears across the water furiously and makes itself known to all those sleepy heads buried under the covers. With the passage of time, I had forgotten how years ago I always looked forward to the relentless wind of a cold front on Sundown Bayou. Though the front brings a chill, it warms me from the inside out, like a cup of hot chocolate.

The water fowl who call this bayou home seem perfectly cozy in the chilly waters. What’s next for them? What does the future hold for them? They don’t know or care that the new year is only days away. They wade through life in the present moment.

They make me feel at home here, beside them on our little corner of the planet. I don’t need to know what happens next either. Not anymore. Now is good enough for me.

And right now, at this moment, I think I’ll go sit by the fire and have a cup of hot chocolate. With extra marshmallows.