Lifestyle

From the Editor: February 2025

Here’s February. Rime ice mornings. Brilliant sun days. It’s a month that can be so cold, but, too, there are daffodil shoots and other signs of spring. And we humans have found ways to warm our souls in these last days of winter: Groundhog Day celebrations, a glass of wine or planning for summer harvests. In keeping with thoughts of spring, this issue has the birds, the bees and the welcome charm of early flowers.

Gina Malone, Editor

All of the rebuilding and revitalization around Western North Carolina ties in with well with early signs of spring. Winter—and times of despair like what we all suffered last fall—can seem as if they will last forever, but I like these words by Hal Borland: “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.”

Artist Elizabeth Mayton recalls painting Red and Pink Flowers 46, the image on this month’s cover of The Laurel, on a beautiful spring day. Although the last few years have been hard for her due to losing people she loves, creating helps her to heal. “When I stop and reflect on what I just created,” she says, “I feel as if I have a better understanding of what I am experiencing.” We feature the work also of Stephanie Ellis, who creates fine handcrafted jewelry, and who, until Hurricane Helene, worked at Curve Studios in the River Arts District. “My studio has always been my happy place, and I have been mourning the loss of the space and the wonderful community of artists that made this space such a vibrant place to create,” she says. She has a new space at Radview, however, and looks forward to the spring when she will host an opening party.

In February, it seems we all look forward to warmer, greener days. But as our associate editor Emma Castleberry, highly skilled and greatly experienced in outdoors adventuring, recommends: don’t wait for spring to plan those hikes in the woods. Winter has its own unadorned loveliness. Or, if you feel like hiking closer to civilization, the Carl Sandburg Home has reopened most of its trails, where you can take time to traipse along, taking into account some of the pre-Carl history of this beautiful spot.

Every month has its beauty. As we all continue to recover, rebuild and reimagine, may you find time to seek out what is beautiful, hopeful and joyous in our natural world.

Gina Malone can be reached at gina@thelaurelofasheville.com

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