I've been absent for the whole of January and taking a break sounds more considered than the actuality. Truth is, when the skies are grey, the heating is on the blink and a dozen other things are queueing for attention the desired order gets reshuffled. You want to sit down around the fire of Creativity and feed it logs of inspiration, but stuff

When the days are short and dark; the Vampire Days at the height of winter. Daylight lasts about ten minutes and then its dark again and the only thing missing is Peter Cushing in an Inverness cape with a stake in one hand and a hammer in the other  Motivation can be difficult

We've all experienced the struggle between lethargy and creativity, where the dead weight of lethargy has the advantage. like that annoying sniffling winter cold you can't shake off, no matter what you try, proprietary alcohol based medication or alcohol taken medicinally

Christmas is done with, almost a distant memory now and the hangover of Auld Lang Sine has stopped hanging around. Candlemass has revealed its meteorological prognostication, via its small furry seers in various parts of the world and we've past the half way point.

Candlemass is midway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, so even if the creative juices aren't flowing yet, maybe we can count the days, As the Vampire days are driven underground and the sun dawns earlier and sets later it will be the kick start required.

However distant it may seem, Spring is on the way and the annual explosion of creativity that comes with it.

Maybe the answer is simple; catch a bit of spring fever, tap into the rhythm of life and let it throw off the winter cold. Beat down the vampire days and stake them down.