Her sister replied with a sun emoji and a question mark.
Elena had smiled and nodded, but she was thinking of her father. Every year, he used to declare the start of winter not by the solstice, but by the first day you couldn't see the road lines. "That's the real beginning," he'd say, tapping the kitchen window as the world turned white. "Everything before that is just autumn practicing." when winter starts in usa
Winter, she thought, was also the season of small rituals: switching the storm windows closed, pulling the heavy quilt from the hall closet, making chili with the last of the October pumpkins. It was the season of learning to live in fewer hours of light. Of checking on old neighbors. Of remembering where you put the ice scraper last April. Her sister replied with a sun emoji and a question mark