The sky has fallen!  Trust me, I keep track of these things, and last month astronomers announced a new estimate of stars in the universe – 300 sextillion – and over the next two nights we got 300 sextillion snowflakes, so….  I mean, you do remember me writing here that snowflakes were actually falling stars and descending angels, don't you?

Whatever pedigree you assign to snowflakes, I hope your world is as Disneyesque as mine this past month.  The arcs and hollows of snow dunes throbbing Avatar blue in the moonlight have led me through perhaps 300 miles of pristine gliding on skis since my last Sullygram & column.  The crystal silence is exquisite when you stand steaming in the forest.  It ends with the crack of a tree – or is that your heart – overwhelmed by majesty and memory flowing between you and the universe.  You can't buy such peace and inspiration or rent it or put it on an exotic vacation itinerary.  You have to search for it where you are every day…until it finds you.

I need that re-charge to fill my own reservoirs of energy, and I love it when someone who is drained can tap those streams of energy/hope/inspiration off of me.  Somewhere in my solo odyssey, drive-by giving to others became my collective substitute for a soul-mate, the link in my solitary life that grounds me to humanity.  And, man, sometimes that link is perilously thin.  But then again, when you don't belong anywhere, in a sense you belong everywhere.  I fear the day when I belong nowhere, because I know I will make myself invisible.  Fundamentally, people are either charged batteries or drained batteries, I believe – they either radiate or draw.  Often you see them paired up, hoping their currents are compatible, the amps sustainable, and the polarity matched.  If they aren't, the electricity eventually becomes just static or there are fatal short-circuits in the connection.  I see so many mismatched people desperately tangled in ever-lengthening extension cords, gradually losing voltage as their needs and capacities outstrip the power grid.  I guess that's a kind of invisibility too, like being hard-wired into a dead circuit.  I'm too much of a romantic idealist to settle for rationed energy, so I live in my own limitless version of Pandora, solar and solo-powered.  It's not for everyone, but I think everyone needs an unconditional sanctuary from which to draw perspective, energy and inspiration.

For whatever reason, many readers resonated to the opening line of last month's Sullygram – "Ice is paralyzed water…"  My affinity to winter's edition of water is a natural segue from an earlier stage of my life where swimming and water polo dominated.  I want to thank Chuck Hines for kind mentions of me in that regard.  Chuck is a multi-sport aquatic legend from North Carolina who has referenced my modest accomplishments in both his definitive books on aquatics and in his own inspiring newsletter.  I'm sure Chuck would be glad to add you to his mailing list if you e-mail him at waterywhiz@charter.net   .

This month's column over on StorytellersUnplugged is titled HANGING AROUND THE STARTING LINE, SKIN IN THE GAME, & THEY'RE PLAYING YOUR SONG!  Relating it to the paragraphs above about charging one's batteries, I guess you could say it's a prescription for going wireless.  Here's the link: http://storytellersunplugged.com/thomassullivan/2011/01/15/thomas-sullivan-hanging-around-the-starting-line-skin-in-the-game-theyre-playing-your-song/   

And the pictures below lead off with three snowshoeing shots at a place called Crow-Hassan, followed by a creek pix from a ski day at Elm Creek.  The next three are festive photos from nightly drives past houses from Corcoran to St. Michael.  And the last three include my first grandson Seamus with his mother (my daughter) Colleen and – ah, you just knew Doc Foto (Mark Manrique) was going to "find" a baby picture of yours truly, didn’t you?  And, yes, his last JibJab dance video was so popular that he came up with an encore:  http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/Hn8Fdn87k0DrLwuR6eZv

Sorry I STILL didn't get to a new sax video for YouTube, but here's what's up now [ http://www.youtube.com/user/Sullysax1#p/a/u/1/d49rY3FQ5ic   ].  Hit “subscribe” on the site if you want to be notified when a new video goes up.  Meanwhile, know that I look forward to and greatly appreciate all your posts and responses to both this newsletter and my columns up on StorytellersUnplugged.  They truly make my day/week/month.  Cheers and excelsior!

Thomas “Sully” Sullivan

http://www.thomassullivanauthor.com 
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Dreams are the blood of the soul. People who don’t dream sleep on stone pillows.