We recently returned from visiting family in California for a week.  We had a wonderful time sharing in each others company, and it was fun for Baby LF to play outdoors in a different climate.

Here in Ohio, we still try to get outdoors every day even if it’s snowy and cold, but she really enjoyed this new type of outdoor play.  When temperatures were last warm here, she wasn’t quite old enough to enjoy sitting with a shovel and bucket.

She especially took to the ocean water and it had me wondering if she might be part mermaid.

Maybe some of you who are also in the thick of snow will enjoy seeing the sunlight and warmth.  (Which, funny enough, we often heard was “cold” to them – in the 60s at times – ha ha!).

On this walk during our last full day, we had the sun setting to the west and the moon rising to the east.  Quite outstanding.

And then we made it home after a little delay in the airport, and a treacherous late-night drive.  It was one of those drives where you are just following the tracks of the people in front of you and keeping fingers crossed to make it home safely.  We did!

The sun is shining today and the blanket of snow is glistening with the light.  I certainly enjoyed my dose of California sunshine, but I still can’t imagine living without this snowy wintertime.

While we were there, I had a quiet internally-oriented celebration of Imbolc, one of the nature-based holidays that I celebrate.  This is the first turn of the wheel closer to Spring, and though it still is a winter wonderland here, it is becoming clear that the days are lengthening and the sunlight has a brighter quality to it.  It’s time to start gathering our seeds to plant in our physical and metaphorical gardens.

Are you planning for Spring where you are?

Also of note:

One of the things I was most worried about was keeping Baby LF entertained during the flights.  She did really well with only a few tears on the way home when she was very overtired.  I packed plenty of books, puzzles, and had a bag of small, random toys to draw from.  The kitty figurines were a big hit.  But possibly the best activity of all was this:

Inserting pipe cleaners into a spice shaker jar.  A 15-month old’s dream.

 

 

Check out my Imbolc posts for the past couple of years:

As the Wheel Turns (Imbolc Intentions)

Embracing Winter While Finding the Spirit of Spring