Numbing temperatures and lingering, shaded snow smudged with grime create a dreary, grey landscape as winter wanes slowly. In past years, my mood sunk with the temperatures; but Flagstaff somehow makes it more bearable, enjoyable even. I credit the lack of inversion and smog soup. What we miss about Salt Lake we make up in open space + fresh air. This season, I see more color and detail, simply vignetted by the frost. We've even braved the cold for a brisk adventure here and there, knowing at least we can breathe. Having a desert playground in our backyard doesn't hurt either when we simply need to escape extreme bitterness.
...snippets from our happy winter days...
Eisley goes bizerk over snowballs. Bowls of citrus fruits are spilling over onto our counters. A reading date here and there gets tucked into cozy movie nights, along with plenty of knitting. We exchanged new gym shoes as gifts. Deadlifts are my new favorite (I can lift nearly 150% of my body weight). We run in the desert any chance we get and squeeze rock climbing and route setting into our homebound days. We surprised ourselves with souffle-making skills. And e a r l y morning walks with Eis are a norm again with classes back in session. A little bit of nesting + crafting: a new chair in the corner; simple wooden bead trivets; home dreams always whirling in our minds. We survived sub-zero temperatures and have made escapes to balmy 30/40 degree Sedona an every-other-weekend-must.
I have been trying to shake a comment abour our "empty" house since last month, reminding myself I love our life (and our new home). We are minimalists. We live simply. We don't need a bunch of stuff. The unnecessary things we do choose to get, we will collect slowly and deliberately. But really, we'd rather do things together and get out, even if it's just short, weekend roadtrips or hitting the gym together. So, rather than obsess over making our house "perfect" or quickly filling it with a bunch of cheap crap just to fill it, I am reminding myself what our life looks and feels like. And why I love it so much.
