Vortex

A towering snow tornado wreaks havoc on a community.

The polar vortex is weakening and deforming this winter, sending colder than normal weather spilling across the US and Europe, bringing increased opportunities for snow, and we get a taste of that this weekend. The efffects of this weakening are expected to impact us all winter. The long-term forecast calls for 'dynamic and unpredictable' weather patterns with 'the potential for significant cold air and snow events.'

There was a time in my life that I would be celebrating. As kids, my brothers and I lived outside during the winter, the colder and more snow the better. From hiking, to building snow forts, to ice skating on the pond behind our house, to spending hours sitting in the snow wrapped in a white sheet while fox hunting, we were never inside. Nighttime was even more fun than during the day. It is amazing no one lost any toes to frostbite.

One winter, Andy I went camping at Old Man's Cave in the Hocking Hills. Of course we picked a weekend of record low temperatures. It was so cold the park rangers came by our tent in the middle of the night to check on us. We assured them we were fine, although when we woke in the morning, our boots, wet from a day of hiking, had frozen solid. we had taken them off and stuffed them in our sleeping bags while we slept and we could not put them on in the morning. We had to tear down the tent in our socks and drive to an area of the park with a bathroom that had electric hand dryers to warm them enough to put them back on, still damp and cold. The park rangers would not let us camp the second night and sent us home instead.

I could say I'm a wiser, more capable adult, but I think I'm just old. The cold is no longer appealing. My dogs don't even like the cold. Poppy wears a t-shirt when its 80 degrees out; during winter she wears sweaters and would leave her winter coat on in the house if we let her.

As a writer, I like including weather as part of my narratives. It is a wonderful tool to add pressure to any situation, no matter how mundane. If it is so hot outside that you sweat without moving, so humid that your breathing feels like you are slowly drowning, something as simple as weeding the garden or hanging laundry becomes a challenge. Imagine what that does to your characters as they try to escape a rival criminal gang or solve a murder. Weather can intensify everything; it can become another character in the story.

Weather has some fabulous words with which to work as well. Vortex--a swirling mass of fluid or air--is a great example. When I hear the term polar vortex, I'm immediately immersed into a world of cheap animation, expecting to be bombarded with images of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman. Vortex is threatening and benign all at the same time. Not many words have that power, so keep it close and pull it out whenever you can.

I made my 147th blood donation this week. I started donating blood in 1992. I had dropped my car off at the garage for some work that was going to take a couple of hours, and I needed something to do with myself. A blood drive was going on right next door and I wandered in. I had never given blood before, not even considered it, but it was better than sitting in the waiting room at the garage. I've never stopped. I consider giving blood as a way of tithing to the world.

The great thing about giving blood is that they feed you! The good stuff, like Oreo cookies or peanut butter crackers. With free water and juice. If that's not incentive enough, you are missing something important in this life.

We cannot abide cruelty. In this moment of intense weather, please think about how you can support those who lack shelter, or heat or food.

And now, thanks to our friends at Black Rose Writing, Love: a novel of grief and desire is available to you at a discount! Save 20% on your purchase when you buy directly from the publisher. Just use the promo code SEASON20 at the link below. The discount is good through January 31, 2026.

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