Winter's halftime

Are we halfway through another winter in the Great Lakes? Close enough by my calendar. As February quickly approaches, spring task lists start to float to the top of a sailor's brain. I'm sitting here in my office daydreaming about oiling teak handrails, applying bottom paint to my hull, cleaning my sails and a dozen other activities that would seem like chores were it any other time of year. The middle of winter has a strange way of making me appreciate summer. To paraphrase John Denver's "Relatively Speaking": The sunshine needs the shadows of the night. Contrast makes it go. And so, summer needs the depth of winter.


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