After almost a week home from our travels, I am finally starting to feel caught up. At least for today, my mind has stopped swirling with things that need to be done. Some of them have been done and for now, that is enough. Every year, I think about how I want to just enjoy December -- to feel and appreciate the holiday season as much as possible without rushing or packing too much in. Next year I must remind myself to get the projects done early so I can spend more time being cozy and feeling festive. But, there is still time for all of it. As I remind myself that the things that feel urgent aren't really that important I feel a shift from I have to to I get to.
Temperatures this week have been a few degrees above or below zero. The sidewalks and roads are icy, though we have seen the sun most days. I am learning that getting outside with Amos is much harder that I thought it would be. Hopefully it will get easier with practice because as much as I love being cozy in winter, I can't spend the next four or five months inside all the time.
I am enjoying, still, the winter light, especially as it reflects off the snow. But I am already feeling the harshness of winter. The cold and dry and not being able to go anywhere as easily as usual. I may have linked to this here before but every winter I make this honey scrub. I love the little ways I can take care of myself and feel a bit more nourished and treated in this season.
Before I actually had kids, I really didn't think it would be too hard to take them out in ANY weather. I love outside winter stuff and consider myself pretty outdoorsy (heck, I did trail crew with your friend Mark for a year!), but I have never mastered the art of taking kids out in the winter. Yes, I do it, and once we are out there I'm happy about it, but I have abandoned my dreams of x/c skiing and/or snowshoeing with babies strapped to my back. I've learned to take a great deal of pleasure in simply getting out there for as long as we can, even in our very un-rural backyard. But I'm not selling the snowshoes yet . . . there will come a day when we are all ready for an adventure!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good approach to what I know is a very challenging situation. I learned to ice skate and x-c ski when I was pretty small so I am sure you will be able to have all kinds of adventures with your little ones before too long.
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