February 21, 2014  Friday 6:01 pm

Today has been such a beautiful blustery day.  Snow blowing sideways and pummeling from the rooftops.  Tall trees swaying as if they are dancing with each other.  Bitter cold out there, but the birds are still swarming around the feeders.  Such a perfect winter day, and me inside frying and boiling and baking.  As the night sky is forming overhead, we put the inside lights on and watch the stillness now among the trees. Snow still ladled in their crooks like ice cream waiting for a spoon.

Winter this year of 2014  has been a doozie...all over the nation, world really.  Here in Northern Michigan, we have over 119 inches of snow.  Our Winter Comedy Festival just over where Front Street was blocked off  and children slid down hills of snow and ice skated on a rink.  Families gathered in line to ride a Ferris Wheel or a Zip Line...or both.

Laughter echos through the hills around Traverse City as enthusiastic citizens enjoy their sports and shows of live music.  I think of all the sad souls who do not see the beauty that is all around us every day and I pray for them.  For me, winter is my favorite season.  Quiet days where snuggling near a fire with your book is as natural as breathing, and cooking hearty meals is the same.  Soups boil away and fresh hot bread comes out of the oven, along with soft cookies and fragrant cakes and pies.  Ahh...yes.  This is the Season of the Home, and I love it.

Update:  Now it is February, 2015...and we are completely covered in the cold and snow.  Beautiful in the sunshine, and brighter than I like it....very very cold....19 right now at mid-day.   Judy and Dan are in the Keys....Dianne and Duane are in Bonita, Barry and Sherry, Judy and Melissa have plans for Bonita coming up in March and April....I don't know about the others.   Steve, Karen, Jocelyn, Misty and Chris just got home from DisneyLand....and what a trip!  Jocelyn had an outfit to match each of the characters she was fortunate enough to meet....she looks a bit shy, which she is not....but at 18 months, she most likely cannot make real sense of how those characters have jumped from the screen to real life.