Wednesday

And a happy February to you too! 

Things that may help you make February feel even shorter than it already is:

1. Pay attention to the pretty color of the sky on a cloudless day. Cornflower blue!

2. Don't scoff at those who get giddy over Valentine's Day.

3. Your winter getaway should take place now! Not in March, not in January, but right smack in the middle of February. When you come back, you'll only have a few weeks left until official Spring. Of course, if you live in south-central Wisconsin, you'll have several months left before you actually feel warm again, but, in March you can start your watch for that first crocus bloom.

4. Appreciate the fact that you're probably heading home from work when it is no longer dark. 

5. Double your dose of honey for breakfast.

You're raising your eyebrows at that last one, aren't you? Well, nearly every person I know has ideas about food that lead them to consume something in the belief that it will provide nearly supernatural benefits to their health. Call it food superstition. Even Ed succumbs to this, thinking chicken noodle soup is the answer to a cold. You don't have any? I don't believe it! I'm sure you eat some stuff preventively, regardless of whether science has proven you to be correct in your convictions. Someone once told you, or you read somewhere, or you observed how you stayed healthy while everyone else fell sick and boom! You are under the spell of... apples or flax seeds or yogurt or pickles or whatever it is that turned you to have religious-like beliefs in the power of a food.

Okay, so I have a few of my own and I tell myself -- it certainly can't hurt to eat XYZ and indeed, healthy foods are good for you and so I chomp away at them and I love them and they are part of our meals here at the farmhouse. And then there is honey.

I secretly believe that honey is magical. That bees have infused the goodness of plant life into this sweet thing and that once you consume a teaspoon, little warriors are let loose within your body to fight off disease as best as they can and you do yourself great favors if you dose yourself with a spoonful of this golden deliciousness every day of your life. Preferably raw and unrefined, maybe local if you can find it, or buckwheat because it looks healthy, or thyme flower because in France they say it calms you, or Manuka because it's so expensive that it has got to be good for you or else why are people rushing to stock up on it at $1000 for a tiny jar?

You can see the error of my thinking here, but who cares, say what you will, honey is magic and I am sure I did not succumb to dire illness and cured myself of terrible diseases in my twenties, forties, and sixties by eating regularly and without fail honey nearly every morning. And if I die tomorrow, I will say ha! Without honey, I would surely have died yesterday!

In other words, my point (5) is well taken and you should eat honey, or in the alternative, your food of choice that will carry you through when everyone is knocked down by the coldness of the season.

Just a thought.

This morning is cold but not as cold as yesterday and it is definitely sunny. I am up early enough to see that flame of fire burst upon the farmette lands when I walk over to feed the animals.

And it is very pretty.

And of course, breakfast (with oatmeal and a double dose of honey for me!) is extra pretty too, what with two dozen roses at the table! (A very welcome delivery error!)

So, off to a good start.

And when the sun is at its zenith, Ed and I go out to ski. I may not have gotten my full dose of Vitamin D from that run, but I surely got some good old fashioned winter warmth on my face. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!

In the afternoon, I am determined to take Snowdrop skating. I mean, if not today, then when?? And so I pick her up from school, snack in hand, skates and extra warm mittens packed and ready for action. And she goes along with it, even though the wind picks up and it feels once again like a polar blast has descended on us.

She is more tentative than she was last year. Possibly I did her no favor by getting skates one size too big (I dont want to replace them every few months!!). Or maybe skating right after school is just not a great idea. The girl needs a rest and some downtime. Still, we got our skating in, and my hands froze lacing up all those boots, and we were ever so happy to come back afterwards to the warmth of the farmhouse.

Snowdrop hasn't "played" here for weeks now. She just wants books, preferably read together. She has three chapter books going right now (only one of them is a new one) and she likes to add some old picture book or two to the stack and so this is what we do: read, with her snuggled under the blanket I had picked up at the airport on my return trip from New York in September. 

In the evening, I reheat a frittata and toss up a salad and think about the cold and how much I prefer it to the ice storms in Texas and weird warm ups that bring rain to our state in winter. Still, a high of 4F (-16C) this coming Friday? That's a bit nippy, don't you think?

with love...