Michael Kuby is a great photographer. I was in awe of this shot from a weekend trip to a cabin in rural Alberta this past winter. To those who were there, this representation of a smoke-break on the ice may seem banal. But to the rest of us (me included), the strange scene of flushed youth wrapped in red blankets seems to have materialized from an alien world. I could stare at this photo forever - it raises so many more questions than it answers.

Award-winning poet Mary Pinkoski was kind enough to allow us to print an accompanying piece on the back that further echoes the desolate nature of winter.

How strange all this must seem to anyone who lives in any place without real cold.

This issue is 8" x 11" of creepy winter memories.