“The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you. Don’t go to sleep!” ~Rumi
Perhaps this is why sleep is so elusive when I get home from work. That being said…I’m not sitting outside in this weather to hear those secrets. They will have to catch me as I’m quickly trying to get in the house.
Winter.
It actually don’t seem like it’s been THAT long or THAT difficult this year. I realize it’s mid February and there is still time to go, but winters these days have NOTHING on winters I remember as a kid (said old people everywhere).
I remember getting trapped by blizzards and having to walk home in a line, eyes closed, holding on to the person in front of you and trusting your leader wouldn’t lead you the wrong way. Sure, it was just a walk home from the neighbor’s house, but that neighbor also lived a half a mile away and there wasn’t a damn thing in between the two houses.
I remember going skiing and coming back in another blizzard. My family, cousins and uncle went to Wild Mountain for a skiing adventure. We all piled into my parents Suburban and when we left the weather was perfect. When we got to the mountain it stared to snow a little. Back then, we didn’t get weather alerts on our phones we had to watch the news and that only came on twice a day. My parent’s didn’t have the internet, even if they did I don’t think we would have had the patience to wait for dial-up connection to tell us whether to go or not. We just went.
On the way home the snow got progressively deeper as we drove home. Two miles from our house we were driving through drifts that were over the hood of the Suburban and we’d have to stop every block or so to let the truck warm and melt the snow on the motor enough to continue on.
There was a Halloween as well where my dad risked the conditions just to take me out trick or treating.
We had snow days at school, sometimes we’d have to miss a few days because we lived in the country and our roads were just not plowed first.
And then there were ice storms.
Many times our dirt road became a solid sheet of ice. Instead of skating on the pond that day we laced up and hit the roads. Thinking back now, I have no idea how my dad made it to work every single day and safely. The conditions were horrendous.
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I like winter.
I like how fresh the cold air feels in my nose, mouth and lungs. It’s the most crisp oxygen ever and those sticky summer days and humid times are difficult to breathe in. But…I love that too. Minnesota has the perfect weather balance. There are some piercing cold days that hold the cleanest oxygen and then the super sticky days that have the best pore cleaning capabilities. There is nothing quite like sweating while doing nothing.
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This year, I vowed to do a winter activity and even purchased stuff to make that activity possible and yet I find myself sitting inside, not wanting to battle the elements. I always think, maybe tomorrow…there is still time, but really there isn’t.
As I look outside at the trees, I swear I can see buds already forming. Spring is literally JUST around the corner and I haven’t even put on skates yet.
So, here it is… my vow.
Before THIS winter is up, I’ll strap on some skates AND some snow shoes, because I live in Minnesota and it’s about time I appreciate it and enjoy every season of it.
Now…could you hold me accountable for those two things?!?!
Much love,
Jes xoxo