Anticipation and Contentment

The anticipation of the holidays. A time to break out of our normal routine - whether it is more running, more cooking, more shopping, more talking, more family. It's exhilirating and tiring. And somehow, it all comes about the way it is meant to. The sight of the stockings by the fireplace is still putting a smile on my face. There is still some uneaten peppermint bark hiding in the cupboard

And there is a feeling of satisfaction and contentment of another special season.

Contemplate

I'm sitting at my kitchen table at the cabin, watching the snow falling softly as it turns into larger and fatter flakes. Was it just 5 hours ago that I was running down on the plains in 50 degree weather? A day to contemplate change, and yet to also try to stay in the present. A minute blip in my blood test - is my today different because now I will have the shadow of a worry for the next three months? No - I will allow that worry only a small, temporary hold on my psyche. And I can sit here in the present and appreciate the snow, the river still flowing through the rocks coated in white, and the happiness from running a trail that hasn't been visited in several years.

Tis the season

The holidays are finally approaching, but you wouldn't know it from the weather. Trails in the foothills are snow and ice free, a pleasure to run on. At sunrise this frosty morning, deer were out browsing for their breakfast. A fox trotted across the road, intent on his destination.

Cottonwoods

Every tree is special on the plains - there are so few. The giant cottonwoods tell a story of the last 150 years, when the first settlers attempted to change the flow of water. Following the irrigation ditches and creeks, they march out onto the plains, surrounded only by grass and low bushes. In winter, their bare silhouettes are majestic.

Winter sun

What is it about sunshine that makes us crave its touch? When the sun is low on the horizon, it has a special way of streaming through my windows and finding me. It will jolt all the muted tones of winter into a startling display of forgotten color and textures. It always makes me smile.

Hercules

Today I christened the new showshoes with a hike up to the Hercules tree. It is a douglas fir unlike any other in the area. Reported to be over 600 years old, the trunk is massive in girth for a fir. Side branches are larger than the trunks of most nearby trees. It is not particularly tall, but has a spreading canopy that reminds me of an oak, providing shelter on a snowy day. The tips of the branches were adorned with Christmas ornaments of perfect cones.