It’s 2 degrees in Minneapolis tonight, the windchill ratcheting us down to minus ten. There are mountains of snow on every street corner, and driving a across an intersection is a cross between a thrill sport and a game of peek-a-boo. It’s a thrill sport too, to take a sip from your travel mug of steaming hot coffee because you will spill it as your car lurches through ruts of snow that have crusted into random jagged weapons of whiplash.

Mostly this is theoretical for me. I go outside to shovel (even when there’s just nuisance snow because I like to shovel) and to take out the trash. I very seldom find myself in a car.

This indoor life is lovelier than you might think. It’s cozy in this little house. There’s love, music, movies, popcorn, ping-pong, houseplants. I zoom with friends, and take some online art classes. We eat fabulous meals here. Homemade baked things, thick soups, and roasted meats and vegetables.

I spend a lot of time making collages. Most nights, in fact, I’m in my studio, snipping, gluing, listening to podcasts or just enjoying the silence and the cocoon of my cool blue walls.

Here are two about climate. Polar opposites.