Sorry, hibernating people of the planet Earth. Sorry, social conformity. I’ve tried to hate winter, but I can’t. Can’t “sully” the purest of seasons when I want to “Sully” the season with energy and awe. You don’t have to look too hard to see the reason the season is pleasin’. Crystal absolutions are wafting down as I write this, each snowflake unique in its exquisite holy-white tracery (one redemptive symmetry per malformed blemish on the earth). Just now the snowflakes are so big that it only takes 3 or 4 of them to make a dozen (snicker). Catch one on your tongue and feel it dissolve from ambrosia to nectar. And the sweet ether of chill air – suck it in and be reminded that you are alive! You do know that the canned stuff in your lungs is slow poison, don’t you?
Not
to mention the virtues of white light. Contrary to indoor myth, winter is the
most brilliant of seasons…if you’re standing in it. How can it be otherwise when
the earth is spangled in 1000-watt diamond chandeliers? Come out, come out,
troglodytes, wherever you are! SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is just sad
because it is sooo-o unnecessary.
Have
to say, I didn’t always love winter. My head was buried in the snow, so to
speak (and if I knew where I buried it, I would have dug it up). I thought winter
was all trudge and shovel, whereas I’m a guy who likes to be in motion. Then I
discovered you could soar on top of all that white fluff by doing something called
SKINNY SKIING. No, that doesn’t mean buck-naked soaring, as the love of my life
once thought with charming innocence and disarming willingness. Think of it as
surfing with each leg on a separate surfboard (ideally, both thighs stay within
screaming distance of each other). Instead of wave-running, it’s double-dune
running. You are a puppet manipulated from below by the push-and-drop of the
trail.
Of
course, you have to acquire a certain amount of health to max out the high
notes of a symphony in the snow, and the learning curve can be as steep as the
terrain. Nordic skiers have the highest fitness of any athletes on the planet.
But it’s also like tennis where the level of activity can be articulated down
to a mere shuffle. At any pace, it’s still fun, healthy, invigorating, inspiring.
Not
so fun is wrestling with a mindless algorithm that can’t tell newsletters from
spam and prevents legitimate email from reaching my subscribers. I received a
mountain of your SOSs asking where your Sullygrams went last month and they
were all from accounts owned by Microsoft (Hotmail, Live, MSN etc.) – like this
one:
Dear
Sully, Life is full of little surprises and compromises too
But Life feels dull when days go by and I don’t hear from you
Then today your Sullygram arrived and I knew
That life is fine and continues to have structured virtue
So here’s my statement and my request – if I may be so bold.
Please don’t lose my name and address even though I’m growing old
I’m battling the frustration of Sullygrams being misidentified by these algorithms, and the best advice I can give you at present is to use (and send me) any other email address you have that isn’t owned by Microsoft (Microsoft owns Hotmail, Live, MSN and certain customized addresses among others).
This month’s photos below are as follows: #1 Cinnamon and vanilla candles whose haunting aromas are a tradition for 9 Christmases now; #2-5 recent forays into the wilds; #6-7 even Mother Nature wants to know how to get rid of Sully; #8-12 first Christmas party of the season – the famous Sandi-Beth mega cycling party in Prior Lake!A hearty “Ho-ho-ho!” to all my friend and fan subscribers (yes I know, in Australia they’re making their Santas say “Ha-ha-ha” out of political correctness). Thanks for all the season’s greetings. December’s newsletter will have to double as my Sullycard this year, on account of another mass mailing will surely trigger those idiotic spam algorithms. So keep a candle burning for me and know that I mirror the warmth and light back to you! May you receive what you’ve given me – outreach, steadfastness, loyalty. I’m such a difficult person to keep track of – where would I be if good people like you didn’t kick over my rock, support my writing, or KIT? And I very much appreciate the stocking-stuffer interest in CASE WHITE! Thank you one and all. Joy to the world and see you in 2015!
EMAIL NOTICE: The only way to receive Sullygrams is to ask for them. You are receiving this because you or someone at this email address requested it. If you ever change your mind about wanting to receive Sullygrams, simply reply with a request to unsubscribe. Please know that I NEVER arbitrarily drop anyone. However, Microsoft in particular continues to use the most arbitrary algorithms to identify spam, and because my newsletter is widely read around the world, it is continually misidentified. If your email is owned by MS (Hotmail, Live, MSN and others), it may be blocking Sullygrams or other mail you request. If you do not receive your monthly Sullygram, please let me know. And thanks as always for your friendship and interest.
Thomas "Sully" Sullivan
You can see all my books in any format here on my webpage or follow me on Facebook:
http://www.thomassullivanauthor.com
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