Hail Brave hearts
Joy to you, in this awesome new year. A year of hopes and dreams to fill. Good luck to you with all of your plans, resolutions and pursuits. The new year is upon us and it is with smiles that we carry on. A warm winters day, a fun filled way to adventure. Skating and skiing and joy in participation. The easy relaxation of family and friends, social gatherings, companionship and fellowship. A new day, a new year, everything hopeful, bright with cheer. In like a lamb, the new year is pleasing, warm and sunny, not bone chilling and freezing. It’s wintertime, snowy and dark, but for us, this is outstanding. Just cold enough to keep the bears in hibernation, they sleep in their dens, and pass this season away.
The deep chill of Christmastime designed to keep you cooking, is now followed by the joy of the new year. Smugly we skate, the ice is superb, tobogganing later is just what we need. We fill our thermos with tea or soup and spend glorious hours in sun soaked snow pits. A winter tan, sun screen is a must, the slopes call us to linger at the top of a mountain, enjoying a view that’s quite a climb in the summer. We glide effortlessly out to the middle of a lake, to take the photos that we rarely see in the summer. It’s a joy, this winter of blowing, biting snow. We love it this way, winter wonderland don’t go. Not yet.
Not yet, in this dead time of winters darkest nights, with dazzling bright stars to guide us at night. Don’t pass yet, as we wander with snowshoes in hand, to take on a river, impossible at other times. The snow, the ice, the cold all help us, to explore the great wild at a time when the animals are less dangerous. They lay and watch us, but no one is mating, the call of a championship duel is no longer heard. Silenced are the males, their courtship has ended and now quiet in winter with snow softly falling, we strap on our snowshoes to tackle the trail. The endless white beauty, of the soft winter snow, the clear, chilly air, that makes it all possible. At the best of times it’s nothing but play and we know that when the storms come, they send snow our way.
It’s joy to us, we sing the praises of this season. Smiles, hot chocolate, winter gear and cold. It’s just what we wanted. Go up to the skihill for a day of fresh air. The northern lights are streaming, they fill up the sky, with a wonder so stunning, it captures our eyes. Brilliant displays of colors in heaven, so fascinating and captivating. The stars shine brightly, the moon is full, put on your headlamps and go out for an evening skate. The temperatures are mild, only -10 and the hour of exercise is relaxing and pleasant. Surprisingly, we had company that night, families with children in sleighs and on skates. The fire was burning, a warm place to rest. It’s wintertime and it’s warm out, this is the best.
written by Dr. Louse Hayes
January 3, 2018