A notebook that survives the winter

Dear reader,

This week the lake began to skin over at the edges, and I started writing in my winter notebook.^{Note 11}1 Skin over: when the first thin layer of ice forms on the surface of still water. A notebook that is perfectly good in September can be useless in November, with ink that thickens, pages that curl and fingers that will not hold a pencil. I have lost a good many notes to the cold, and this is what I do about it.

I use pencil, always.^{Note 22}2 Field notebook: a small notebook kept for notes and drawings made outdoors, where the thing is seen. Ink freezes, and a pencil does not mind, though I keep two, because one is always in my pocket and the other is always on the floor of the hut. I use a small book with a hard cover that does not crack, and a rubber band to hold the pages shut. I keep the whole thing in an inside pocket until I need it.

The cold changes how I write, too.^{Note 33}3 Seed: here, the short note made outdoors that grows into a longer piece when you write it up at home. My notes are shorter and more exact, because I do not want to stand with a bare hand in the wind. Date, place, weather, one line about what I saw. On the way home I write it out properly at the kitchen table, while the stove warms my feet. The short note is the seed, and the long one is what grows.

If you are thinking about keeping a notebook through the winter, start with the smallest one that you can hold with gloves on. Next week I will write about keeping your hands warm enough to use it, which is more of a problem than I would like to admit.