again.

I know! ANOTHER post about winter! and that snow thingy! Well, this is what we all get when I am not happy. it's either winter with snow or winter without snow. Once I did say to the hubs that I loooove winter and he started looking around for an alien pod in which he thought he would find my real body, he was so shocked by me saying that. Anyway, winter. I'm over it. If there is a jack frost, then jack frost help us all. This is INSANE. The worst winter I can remember, e.v.e.r! the worst to date. period. and when I say worst, I mean where le heck is it? winter 2002, best I ever had, it almost made me tip right over the edge, seriously. We live in the mid-west. Which means, for the last few months we should have had 20-something degree temperatures. every. single. day. and snow! 

Well, this winter, dude? Temperatures in the thirties and freezing rain. WHAT? Yep. This causes me to run around the block, twice, screaming at the top of my lungs because nothing else will do. there is no other way to express the level of my frustration. The next day, sixties. I KNOW, right!!? So I  went for an hour hike, feeling all mope-y for living where I do with this fickle weather. Every time I passed someone on the trail, I would say something like "Can you believe this weather?" or "Is it January or April, tee-hee? " or "I didn't know there were grisly bears in these parts!!"  because I'm hysterical that way and because the weather, clearly, makes me behave as if I were on medication while convincing me that I am indeed funny. I don't learn from past experience, you see.

Anyway, when I lived in Florida, people always asked what it was like to live there in the summer. Well, take a hair dryer, put it on the hottest setting, turn it on high - point it at yourself - and hold it there for four months. That's kind of what it's like. And then of course factor in the sun, shining all the time. man, it is relentless! So, now we're suppose to have "four seasons". winter wonderland wonderful, heading into a bud bursting-ly beautiful spring, then three months of staggeringly awesome summer followed by a spectacular Fall. this has not been the case. so, please forgive me this indulgent and annoying post where I go all nutty about the weather. again.  

 

Since moving back here ten years ago, I've been enjoying the changes. Here is a pause ______ for you to reflect on that. See, when we decided to move here, I had to leave my beloved ocean, even though Florida and I never bonded. But I threw myself a bone. a trade off if you will, for family and changing seasons ~ no more spring break traffic jams, spiders the size of dinner plates, scenery as flat as a pancake, gardening in the sand plus alligators and armadillos for yard pets. so, I've been torturing myself ever since. At this point, almost everyone who hears this says "are you NUTS?"  because people just cannot fathom leaving a place where sunny days are the norm. On one hand, I understand their contention. On the other, I don't get it - I mean, if you can't work it out, if you just don't like where you live, and life gives you  the chance to move, do you do it? Just curious. So, I'm always a bit struck that people are just dumbfounded by the fact that we moved back to Ohio from Florida.  am I the only one who does not find this strange?

Some of us are "four seasons" people and some of us are not. I am. I like when the seasons change, going from one to another makes me appreciate them more. Make sense? Yeah, I know. I've been watching winter struggle. throwing around and thrashing together every weather condition possible with abandon...rain, snow, thunder, winds, freezing rain, fog! in no discernible order. Mother Nature going against ALL the weather rules. All the while, smiling like a cheshire cat, flirting with me, teasing, daring me to make any kind of plans. The saucy minx. But that's just so Ohio. Glorious and graceful one day, a hideous mess the next. It ain't always pretty, and it's never predictable. Yet, there are moments when I am transported into the full realization of just how beautiful it can truly can be. And I'll stand there riveted, humbled, enchanted. I want to soak it all in, man! Giving me that kind of living-in-the-moment feeling, that special kind of inner peace. Honestly, I really am into all that inner peace stuff. So then I was wondering, during my day-to-day nonsense, where ARE my daily moments when I'm actually in the moment. cultivating some peace? 

My early morning walk with the puppies, but of course. The first sip of my morning coffee, absolutely. and so it goes...the first steps toward World Peace. They say it begins at home people. 

baking, especially bread.it just smells so wonderful. I should bottle and sell it.

Hiking. two to three times a week. this usually helps me actually notice there is nature outside my door.

Reading. I love to read. love how it makes me feel cozy and peaceful. takes me to exciting new places.

Okay, see why peace is so easy? I do yoga quite regularly, meditate, and write a little positive grateful-something something each morning in a journal. It makes me feel good. big surprise. It also makes me curious, what do other people do to ensure some peace and serenity in their lives? What do you do?

Hmmm, so? Where am I going with this? 

Every January I think to myself, I can do this. I can get through winter. I can make it. But once the holidays and birthdays, once all the merry making is over, and it's the end of January. it. brings. me. to. my. knees. reminds me that I have such a long way to go, and that winter is far from over. I miss my garden. I miss going barefoot. I miss the sunlight that gets higher than the treetops. and stays all. day. long!

I miss all that stuff, and more, and it's only the end of January. It happens quickly, my disenchantment with winter. But once the decorations have all been packed away, the porch swept and it's back to waking the dogs in the still-dark mornings, it's okay. I'm good with it. at peace. It's just that sleepy, dreamy days are what I love best.

Spicy Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

(go here for recipe)

peace!