Thursday

The wind, making its way toward us from the far reaches of the Arctic, was so biting that my eyes watered and I was sure the puddles of tears were right at the cusp of freezing. I've never seen frozen eye lids before. It would be a first.

And still we skied.

There was a weak glimmer of sunshine, but mostly there were gusts of snow. Tiny flakes that felt more like ice dust, adding the thinnest of layers of fresh snow to the ungroomed paths. Deserted paths. No one was in our county park (right side) today.

Sometimes, out of reluctance, we push off going out until later, much later in the day, but I couldn't do that this time because it's my Snowdrop day and so it's ski in the (late) morning or not at all. Rather unenthusiastically we go out. And it just goes to show you that something can appear distasteful (skiing in Arctic temperatures) until you actually do it and then you realize it's actually thrilling and very beautiful.

All this after breakfast of course. I swear it's my last day for the panettone! (Oh! I'm going to miss it!)

And after animal care. 

(Tuxie, with her thick coat looks comfortable out there...)

(Dance has a thick winter coat as well. Still, she looks more comfortable here: )

My afternoon is with the now seven-year-old Snowdrop. Yes, it's way below freezing (we're in single digits F most of the day, so well below -12C).   Yes, she always leaves her jacket in the car.

She asks me -- what was the weather like in Poland? -- Not much different, I tell her. Though that's not completely true -- Poland temperatures don't stay this low in the winter, yet the moisture in the air is brutal. It feels colder. Days are significantly shorter too, and that doesn't help.  And yet I never thought of winter as being especially difficult to get through. There wasn't a Florida or a Caribbean to run away to. We were all in the cold miserable boat of central European winter weather together. What we dreamed of was getting to the mountains to ski. To take the best of what winter has to offer.

(I'd say she and I spent 80% of our time on that couch with books today. She would have gone for more, but I suggested we diversify.)

And very quickly it's evening, and I take her home and turn my mind to making supper at the farmhouse. 

Did you ever notice how quickly the month of January speeds past us? You've barely finished dotting the i on your new year's resolves and pfft! It's February and you feel you've already lost valuable time in garden planning. Is it really time to start leafing through day lily catalogues? Yes it is. Remarkable!