<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Kevin_W3(1).jpg" style="width: 188px; height: 250px; float: right;" />Spending the winter in the great North Woods of Michigan can be challenging.&nbsp; Usually associated with bitter cold, hostile temperatures, roaring blizzards and below zero wind chills, it&rsquo;s no wonder people find winter in the north hard to endure.&nbsp; However, as an intern at the Au Sable during the winter session, I was able to see this cold and quiet season from a new perspective.&nbsp;</p>
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	Growing up in Michigan, winter has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.&nbsp; The bitter cold, short days, and slippery roads have long since been a part of my childhood and early adulthood.&nbsp; I wouldn&#39;t say that I dislike winter, I enjoy outdoor sports such as cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, but it&#39;s always been a sort of season to endure.&nbsp; Au Sable has always been a place where I can connect with God&#39;s creation on a deeper level, the atmosphere has a way of captivating me and slows me down to see the natural world in a new way.&nbsp;</p>
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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Kevin_W2(1).jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 188px; float: left;" /></p>
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	The Au Sable atmosphere has captivated me over the past four weeks, time as a winter intern and has showed me a different side of the winter season.&nbsp; I&rsquo;ve learned to slow my gaze, and absorb my surroundings.&nbsp; I woke the other day to catch the morning sun creep through the forest casting its light along the surface of the freshly fallen snow, shining like a million diamonds scattered on the ground.&nbsp; I&rsquo;ve observed the myriad of tracks scattered across the snows brilliantly white surface leaving clues as to who left them and writing their stories in the snow like a thousand little books waiting to be read.&nbsp; I&rsquo;ve even encountered the great white snowy owl, an almost mythical nomad of the North as it sat silently atop a telephone pole in search for its next winter meal.&nbsp;</p>
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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Kevin_W1.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 188px; float: right;" /></p>
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	All of these experiences, upon many more, have helped me to see and appreciate the winter season in a new light and a new perspective.&nbsp; Now as I prepare to depart I pray that I will keep these lessons close to my heart, that I might continue to learn from my time at Au Sable long after the snow has melted and the snowy owl has retreated north.</p>
