A ramble of seasons and memories....

So, as I was driving home from bringing Emily to her school tonight, I started musing about why I get so excited at the sharp smells and crisp feel of winter weather.

I mean, it's so exhilarating for me for me, a true uplifting of spirit and physical well-being. I drove into the deepening evening with my windows cracked open and the cold air wreathing my head in a gift of freshness and purity.

The sky gave way from the dark reds of the sunset to the soft blues of evening, with stars just beginning to cast their own glow into the evening's mix.

And from all this came a memory. Or more properly a memory of a time and a place and a feeling ...

The Swamp. Any cold - enough day/weekend/vacation when we would rush down in the early morning and spend all day flying .. flashes of silver flipping from our feet and laughter filling the skies around us. Neighbors, friends, a few enemies .. we would all join, play, split and reform to create new groups, new dynamics, new rules, new games.....

And, if we were truly lucky Black River would be frozen and we would dare each other to ride it as far as it would take us, knowing that, exhausted, we would still have to return.

All the neighbors would end up down there at least for part of the day, daily feuds forgiven for the duration (or at least till the first 'transgression' occurred..:>).

If the hockey players refused to yield the ice, we just took it; often physically stealing the puck and thereby ending the game rather unceremoniously. As we grew older I remember feminine wiles often being just as effective.

And the skates!!! To get a new pair of skates for birthday or Christmas was such a glorious gift! I remember when I graduated from the four-runner strap ons to my first beautiful white-leather 'real ice-skaters' boot skates.

So as I tell anyone who asks, I have chosen to live in New England for all 4 seasons, each season has it's own beauty and memories for me. And tonight I have decided to share a few of my memories of Winter.