Introspective

The relentless north wind blew in the first snow this morning. As I felt each flake ting and burn against my cheek, I was torn between the bitter and the sweet of long ago. Memories of cold, lonely winters bound into my depression by the overpowering darkness, and memories of sledding, gliding through the frigid air, friends all around not a care in the world, except when the next snow day would come. But today is another day, marked with cold indifference, to the weather, to life, to everything, as I stand in the bitter wind, just trying to keep my cigarette lit.