The air is crisp, clean but chilly. My boots, are not enough to warm me from the ground up as I walk about. But this is just what I need. I want to feel the snip of the cold through my bones. It makes me feel alive, it jolts me to reality that the romance of Hoan Kiem Lake will dissolve after the sun rises the next day. Yet, why do I allow the city to trick me one last time? I do this because nature cannot be steered away from its course. Wintertime calls my emotions to hibernate, to accept and wait for spring to rekindle and surprise my spirit anew and let its warmth strengthen me again. (November 20, 2009)