Winter

We've been hit by two big snow storms over the last week.  Like in Camelot, it came in on Christmas day and gave us a white Christmas.

Last night the second storm was raging.  At 8:30 it was dark and wild out there and I got the urge to go out into it.  My dog, Ella, was sound asleep in front of the fire (as was Dave!) so I put on boots and several layers and quietly said "want to go for a walk?".   That old girl was up on her feet in seconds and at the door.  She loves snow!

Once outside my arthritic dog, who tends to hobble around the house, heaves a big sigh before doing the stairs and lays down with a groan, was prancing down the driveway!  Our tracks were the only ones laid into the inches of new snow.  We headed down to the town landing; being drawn into the full force of this storm.

The sea was black, as was the night.  Ella and I walked out to the end of the pier, which was snow covered, with the wind howling down on us and the falling snow lashing at my uncovered face.  Ella put her ears back and found one little strip of boardwalk that was bare of the snow to make her traveling easier.

At the end of this pier the little gate that opens to the dock in the summer had been blown open and held in that position by the snow pack.  I was feeling secure with the high rails of the pier protecting me, but this open, gaping mouth that dropped right into the bay at the end of the pier felt a bit eerie.  I put my shoulder into it and closed the gate as much as I could.  Then I felt a little safer to lean over the rail and look into the black waters below.

I always get this odd feeling when looking into water ... there's a bit of a pull to jump in.  Now, I'm a rational being and have no "death wish" so you can all stop worrying, I would never do it.  But as I stared into that undulating water below there is a sirens call ...

... Ella nuzzled my leg and brought me back to the pier as she pulled on her leash to head home.

Again, I was amazed by this little dog as she danced up the steep hill that leads away from the beach and back to the house.  Something about the sirens call of a storm was surging through her and giving her a new energy and excitement to her step.

Me too.

Something about a storm always pulls me out into it .... needing to get outside and feel the power, the wind, the storm all around me ... it's a primal feeling.  And, of course, knowing I get to return to a warm home with the fire blazing makes the going out that much easier.

And having someone at home, helping me to shrug off the snow covered layers, wanting to hear all about the storm and bustling me towards the stove ..... is the biggest luxury of all.

I am looking forward to this coming New Year.  I hope all of you are too.

Have a safe and wonderful celebration to the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013.

Loving you all back.
Mary