T.D. Mischke

I borrowed this book from the Red Wing Library.

I heard the author, TD Mischke, speaking on the local MPR station one morning, and I knew I needed to read his new book. I was delighted when my local library got it in. Winter's Song is a meditation on winter in what Mischke terms 'the Northlands': Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, and eastern Montana. Each chapter is short, a couple pages, creating nibbles of content that are akin to brief meditations. Really, meditation is one of the best words for this book. Each chapter, whether focusing on beauty or terror or an obsession with jackets, regards the north's cold with reverence. You can never forget that it'll kill you, but there is joy to be found in the experience, if you seek it out--whether it's by skating on a frozen pond in the middle of the night or taking in the particular sound of a snow shovel penetrating the icy layers to find asphalt below.

Many of the chapters are eloquent essays by Mischke, but there are a few guest pieces, including an enlightening one by a meteorologist. There are also a few winter-themes short stories and poems.

As a newcomer to the Upper Midwest, starting to experience winter as I never have before (in the past week, I've driven in snow twice! My first time driving in snow!), I really appreciated Mischke's perspective. His love of place reminded me of how Mas Masumoto writes of my home region, California's San Joaquin Valley. I only home that I can retain a similarly positive view of winter by the time March arrives.… (mehr)