What better way to celebrate Black Friday than to lounge in yoga pants (better known as "pajamas"), laugh with family, and eat the food of the gods (peanut M&M's) out of a holiday dish for the good part of an entire day? If there is a more perfect method of cultural rebellion, I don't know what it is. Retail warfare can kiss my ever-widening ham hocks - there is no doorbuster in America that can beat a quiet morning in the woods and hiding snug under a warm quilt past eight.
C and I are visiting with my in-laws at their lake house in the Adirondacks of New York, a place which practically hums with hospitality and radiates with cozy goodness. The solitude of this small town along with the perfectly quiet atmosphere (no TV buzzing, no stereo cranking, no logging trucks releasing their air brakes) pairs seamlessly with the clarity of the cool blue lake, transparent window panes and as of Wednesday, the delicate layer of snow garnishing the not-quite frozen ground. Think Call of the Wild meets the North Pole workshop meets HGTV's Dream Cabin. It's brilliant.
I took a little walk with my mother-in-law this afternoon up the road a bit to a snow-covered beach. The sun was so warm that we could've comfortably worn short-sleeves, while the snow crunched under our shoes as we stomped down the shoreline, picking up pieces of beaver wood and enjoying the sound of water lapping on the sand. There is something astonishing about the collection of sounds, smells and sights that define this brief marriage of fall and winter. It's especially stunning because I know that by the time that C and I get home, the bears will have already built their ice huts and the neighbors will be crawling into their dens to hibernate until June. It's just another reason to savor these moments before we fall off of that proverbial cliff known as winter.
I hope that your day was as beautiful and inviting as ours was, but honestly, I doubt it was. Better luck next year.
I guess if you really think your day was better than ours, you can just go ahead and tell me off in the comments section. I'll read it.
Someday.
you write beautifully and you take brilliant photos. what exactly is it that you don't do? :)
ReplyDeleteBe careful what you wish for, my dear Jen. One of these days when you least expect it, I'll try and tell you a story in person, and you'll take it all back. It's close-your-eyes-and-run-out-of-the-theater horrifying. Ask C - he'll confirm the ugly truth.
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