Saturday, December 29

First of all, I am very well aware of the fact that I have not written in over two weeks. The reason?  I haven't wanted to.  I wanted to cruise through the days leading up to Christmas, with no stress, plenty of sleep, just enjoying this time of year.  I don't know you recall last year at this time, I was actually headed towards being so depleted I had to permanently increase my daily thyroid dosage.  Not this year!  Here is what has been happening:

The kids spent the past week at their mom's and are now with us for the next week.  Johnny is fortunate to have this week off so all they do is ski every day.  He and I skied in Ophir last weekend, once on Saturday, once on Sunday and once on Tuesday, Christmas Day.  Saturday can only be described as a FlailFest.  For real.  As nice as Johnny is, if you asked him he would have to agree: I fully flailed.  HOWEVER, I went right back out on Sunday and claimed my redemption!!  Improved my skinning and skiing performance perhaps tenfold.  As if that wasn't enough, we returned on Christmas morning, took a longer and more challenging route and did even better.  I just love ski touring.  There really is nothing like it.

I used to think, god, why would anyone work that hard just to get some fresh powder turns?  But here is what it is all about: enjoying nature in the winter.  It requires an incredible amount of strength, stamina, knowledge, finesse and desire.  When all those factors come together, you have a bit of an internal perfect storm, and even though it is really all about the powder turns, it also kind of isn't.  Very similar to a yoga practice - you don't go into it to only get a pose, but you also don't walk away without getting the pose.

So that was a huge step in the right direction for us, with our goals of ski touring in a camper.  The mountains are just so beautiful and it is such a nice way to enjoy winter, out generating your own heat, hearing the chickadees welcoming you back, seeing a golden eagle soaring out of sight, observing all the tracks of snowshoe hares, ermine, martens, lynx....

We had Christmas with the kids on Thursday, when they returned in the morning.  Johnny and I had had a talk about kids' expectations at Christmas and I have to say, I don't recall being disappointed that I had not received some fantasy over-the-top gift when I was a kid. What I do remember, is feeling let down the day after Christmas, that it was kind of all over.  That kind of segued into us discussing the role of traditions in our families.  We have established a lot of nice traditions with the kids throughout the year, but especially here at the holidays.  What I feel traditions do, is they bring a sense of unity to the family, they create a common goal that we temporarily immerse ourselves, in they give us all something to look forward to, but most importantly over the Christmas holidays, is that they can have the effect of slightly diffusing the impact of Christmas morning itself.  Which I think is a good thing.

And perhaps that was why I felt let down after Christmas morning, as there were no more cookies to make and deliver to the milkman and the mailman and the dentist and doctor..., there was no more tree to decorate or lights to hang, or meal to plan, it all just ends so abruptly.  Why can't we have post-Christmas traditions, ones that are just as much fun as the pre-Christmas ones, and I'm not talking about taking the tree down and exchanging the gifts that don't fit, or dieting for the next 6 weeks....  Oh, wait, there are some: seeing Phish and Panic on New Year's Eve!   That'll do it!

Anyway, we just talked about all the things we do with the kids that unify us and keep us looking forward to seasons and holidays and landscapes and whatnot, and what I am the most proud of is how we have ritualized the little day-to-day aspects of life.  Walking downtown on a Friday evening to get a caramel steamer is a really big deal.  Putting a cinnamon stick in a mug of hot cider is a really big deal.  Going to our usual spot to cull an overcrowded sapling from the forest is a really big deal.  I think it's kind of cool.  But so is getting a new pair of skis :)

The kids picked a tiny tree for their room the way Sister and I used to!

We a Perfect Sunday.  Johnny and Anthony went skiing early while Cella and I stayed home, she watched one of her new American Girl Doll videos, I baked and did errands, then we met up with the boys on the ski area.  I then darted off on my own while they meandered around, then we all met up again at Goronno's for some hot chocolate.  Then we spent the last part of the day skiing together, until we had to download Chair 7 to get back to town which was an adventure in itself!

I instituted Potpourri Night for dinner, which was a huge success and, I predict, a keeper in the Tradition Realm.  I hung out in the kitchen and just made a bunch of different items and people ate what they wanted, when they wanted.  I made sautéed shiitakes mushrooms, Cella helped me assemble spring rolls, the kids had pesto pasta and sliced red peppers and Johnny and I had a butternut squash cashew coconut curry.  

So here are marching into 2013.  I will write about goals next time!