Saturday

I went out four times today.

The first time I was scantily dressed (I mean really scantily dressed: think undershirt and shorts). I had been on my way to the shower when I saw this:





For whatever chicken reason, the girls were braving the snow -- something they almost never do -- to come up to the garage and farmhouse. They deserved a reward for their bravery and so I ran out to give them some bread and to pour hot water into the bowl to melt the ice in it.

The second time out was immediately after (I at least got smart and threw on Ed's jacket). You'll note perhaps that only three of the cheepers were in the parade to the house. Java seemed frozen in her spot by the sheep shed. She could not, would not move. She so reminded me of the day I got stuck up in the Canadian Rockies, terrified of the slipping rocks beneath me and especially of the cliff from which I would surely tumble down if I lost my footing! I set out to rescue Java in much the same way Ed set out to rescue me up there on the mountain, only Java wasn't wearing a backpack.

She was very grateful.


It took me all of breakfast to shed the chill from being out and about.






It's not that it is especially cold. Upper 20sF (just below 0C). But we continue to forge ahead without sunshine and I am boycotting the great outdoors until I see some golden light again.


But then there was that third time out. We are low on our supply of my favorite after dinner chocolate (Ghirardelli's dark with blackberry essence) and only one place that I know of (a big box store) carries it. Time to restock.

As we step out into the mud room, I ask Ed -- what's that squawking noise? I think its just outside...
I don't know... a cheeper maybe?

Sure enough -- Java is in the garage groaning her head off at being left behind, as the other girls have long returned to the barn. (She just cannot handle the snow.)

I carry her sad and frightened chicken self back to the others.






As we drive home from the big box store, we stop to take a brief walk in our local county park. And here's a surprise -- even though the forests have more bare spots than snow, the fields and meadows surely have enough for a ski run! Wonderful news! Tomorrow we shall ski! (Unless the absence of sunshine again causes me to pout and hide.)





And the fourth venture out? That was driven by necessity (no planned farmhouse diner for tonight) and friendship (Ed's buddy invited us out).


It's tough to motivate yourself to step out of your comfort zone (home!), especially when the weather is hostile to those efforts. But rare is the time when you regret having made that effort. Venturing out into the world is rarely the greater evil. Hiding all day long in the depths of your sofa cushions -- now that's dangerous.


Tomorrow we're determined to ski. Will we do it? Maybe.