When I was growing up in Topsham we lived well outside the village (only 3500 or so population, back then) and I can vividly recall waiting for a ride to school in very cold temperatures. Of course, being much younger then I am now, I enjoyed better blood circulation and withstood the cold with more equanimity, if not enthusiasm.

This past month of January brought back memories of winters more harsh than we have faced for several years. As a youth, I enjoyed ice skating on the millpond that bordered our front yard and driveway and could usually count on being able to begin that past time around Thanksgiving when the ice had thickened sufficiently to hold my weight. If I was feeling adventurous I might even skate a mile or so up the river until I reached "The Rips" (a brief stretch of rocks and rapids that interrupts the normally placid flow of the upper Cathance River.

As winter deepened and snowfall built up, the journey upriver required snowshoes and I had the time to review the multitude of wildlife tracks that decorated what was then a secluded area.

I never developed a liking for skiing, but there were hills available for tobogganing with friends.

As the years went by, I found that my enthusiasm for outdoor winter fun waned. Currently, my outside activities are governed more by necessity than by recreational opportunity, particularly when the snow is deep and the day time temperatures struggle to get out of the single numbers.

This past January has been a particularly trying one, in my view. Cold temperatures have been well below the norm and snowfall accumulation is well above average. The bird feeders have been exceptionally busy (we have had "winter" robins in evidence for the past several weeks and I am stymied by their presence) and I no longer see the tracks of foraging deer traversing the deep snow in my front field.

This past fall I bit the bullet and installed a wood stove and that has made a significant difference in the oil bill. It is surely a good thing that programs have been set up and funded through volunteer contributions to help those who are struggling to pay for oil heat even though the price of heating oil has dropped significantly from the record highs of last year.

January and the first week of February have surely reminded me of the trials of winters long past.

Still, daylight has increased by an hour and the sun is providing increasing warmth. Weather forecasts are calling for a warming trend over the next few days and we actually had a melting day or two this past weekend. Once January is past, hope begins to faintly glimmer and the prospect of bare ground instead of snow and ice becomes more and more a hope.

Spring is the sign of renewal. The deep, dark days of winter always seem to pass as hope grows.

And so it is with darkness imposed upon our souls by events that we struggle against. Change is the only constant in life. How we deal with the issues causing change is what reveals our character.

In many of his stories, Jack London signified the impartial brutality of the elements to highlight the struggle between mankind and his environment. Despite sometimes seemingly overwhelming circumstances, many of us, through strength of character, planning, cooperation and implementation still manage to prevail.

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