>It’s snowing – still. Again.
I have a cold, a virus that’s making me feel tired and unmotivated and, well, tired.
I just sent home report cards, and now I need to plan ahead to parent-teacher conferences.
And it’s still snowing.

My spring garden looks so impossibly far in the future; all this snow has to melt before I can even consider getting out to turn the soil.

Students are getting grumpy, unwilling to tap into their work ethic (for some, what work ethic?), not happy about having to put on boots and snow pants but whining about staying inside for recess, too.

And the green blogging community’s APLS (Affluent Persons Living Sustainably) Blog Carnival asks bloggers to post about maintaining sustainable living in the middle of winter. My garden is covered by at least two feet of snow, my compost bin is frozen, my attempt at making orange marmalade failed, and I’m supposed to think green? Well, maybe.

Winter is a good time to clear shelves and box up donations for thrift stores. I have two boxes started and will gather more. I have four books in my bag that I’ll mail tomorrow for Paperbackswap.com. We took two boxes of Braille books to the school for the blind last week, expanding their selection and making space in a corner. Cabin fever might not be curable, but making space on the basement shelves or purging the excess from a closet feels productive.

With that in mind, I think I’ll peel another orange, pour another cup of tea with lemon and (local) honey, and rest a little more. When this cold goes away and I feel a little better, I can fill another box with thriftables. When the roads clear, I’ll take the goodies in.

And as the days get longer, minute by minute, maybe some of that motivational energy will carry me through March, too.

“Affluent” does not mean wealthy. In the APLS movement, affluent simply means people of middle class, people who make a decent living and believe in increasing their sustainable living habits. We’re certainly not rich (I’m a public school teacher!), but we are secure and comfortable – long live the middle class!