Snow! More Snow!

I had another post in mind for today but then I woke to this:

It’s SO beautiful! Kim and I had coffee and cinnamon bread as the sun was rising and then the snowfall let up so we went for a walk.

My Finn is not a snow man for sure (he gets very chilly), but he is always up for a walk, no matter the weather. He made a couple of loops around the trailer, waiting for Kim:

And then Kelee took to the chase:

My Kelee IS in fact a snow man but I’m afraid I wasn’t fast enough to get a picture of him rolling in the snow on his back, three legs kicking the air in delight, a huge grin on his face. I’m sorry. I promise to be in a better position next time.

Then we headed out onto the land grant. It’s so stunningly peaceful up here on the mountain in the snow. A blanket of white on the ground, ravens above us, wings outstretched, gliding on the updrafts over the canyon. Pure bliss.

Kim is from New England so he grew up with snow on the ground every winter. Not me. I’m a child of the northwest where we had MAYBE one snowfall a winter and never as deep as what is already on the ground here.

And THIS snow, I was told by Kim, is perfect for snowballs. I saw him transformed into a seven-year-old boy, packing the snow in his gloved hands into the perfect ball, then tossing it into the air, watching it arc into the canyon below us. I wasn’t sure I could trust him, his instincts to the snowball (and perhaps the fight) almost bred into him. But of course I could. I walked untroubled through the peaceful forest that backs up my property, all of us experiencing it in our own individual ways.

And again I was nearly overcome by the sense of Christmas overtaking me out there in that Christmas card scene I was a part of. This really is Christmas: walking in peace within the beauty that is offered to all of us every day.

I do understand I’m lucky. Everybody doesn’t get to live where I do. But I also know there is beauty wherever we are if we make ourselves available to it—in New York City, in Seattle, around a table where a meal is being shared… its everywhere. In fact I would so love it if you would take some pictures of your lives for me, so I can experience the beauty you all live within as well.

But right now Kim is upstairs preparing to make his Date Nut Bread. Soon the kitchen will fill with the warmth of his love of cooking and the sweet scents emanating from his loaf pans. With snow falling outside, a fire blazing in the wood heater, you know I’ll be there, documenting his recipe to share with all of you. Perhaps you’ll try it and possibly make it for your Christmas guests—or bake it as gifts, wrapped in cellophane and ribbons. If you do, take pictures. Kim loves it when you try his recipes. You can make that a gift for him.

Love to you all,

Jeane