Winter has finally set in and the forest grows still. This is a special time of year. Monochrome scenery by day, rich beautiful sunsets, and extremely dark and clear skies. This is the season for sky gazers.

I really enjoy winter as it really great for the creative mind. Maybe it's the short days and long dark nights. The dark can seem claustrophobic to some but I find it helps me hone in on my constant ongoing projects.

A lot of thoughts go through your mind when you're silent. So I guess the yurt was needed after the past couple of years.

I'm pushing forward with find a way to forge my three crafts together [carving-photography-music] so this will be the new platform for that experimentation. As you read through have a listen to some music I've been working on.

It's just after harvest time, so the work is done and now the hard part of the year comes. Keeping your mind from going a bit stir crazy. Some call it cabin fever.

But I always find the stillness interesting. Especially because there are no leaves dampening sounds. This morning I awoke to a large pack of coyotes yipping and making some amazing vocalization just a stones throw from the yurt.

The sound is something else. You can hear the natural echo and reverb off the side of the mountain as it carries down the valley. You can also hear my footsteps across my wooden floor and the creaking of the door as I opened it to get a better listen.

This is probably my favorite part of living in a yurt. There is very little sound insulation if any at all. So when it rains, you can hear it pounding down on the roof, owls screeching and hooting all night, and those mischievous coyotes.

So naturally I'm most productive at this time. I've been making the best carvings since I started years ago. I'm extremely pleased and excited with the new kuksa designs. Something is clicking and I can sense I'm on the verge of making some really great ones.

It's also a great opportunity to plan and forge out the plans for the new year. My return to Europe is already in the works, and I'm setting my sites on the UK and Sweden. I can't really leave out Holland, as I'd like to go visit my good friend Jan Harmm Ter Brugge in Amsterdam.

Keep your eyes peeled.

Winter Life