Unlike the rest of Canada, we haven’t seen a bit of snow except for up in the mountains. It has rained a lot, barely dipping below freezing. My sage and thyme on the balcony are still alive from last summer. The past few days have been chilly but full of sunshine, a nice break from the typical rainforest precipitation. There are already some buds on the trees. We’ve had flooding and windstorms, but today all is calm. And green.
There for a while I wished for snow. I imagined myself next to a large fireplace in a home in the mountains, where a snow began to fall and I could view its heavy accumulation on sturdy spruce and cedar trees outside. The snow didn’t happen. Now that the holidays are over, I don’t really care for it. Each year I am like a child in awe for that first snow. But on New Year’s day, I am thankful that our days are getting just slightly longer and I’m ready for spring again.
I am thankful and excited for a new year. I don’t take life for granted, so each day I wake up feeling new and good. The other morning I sang very loudly “Oh What a Beautiful Morning!” in the shower, just like my dad used to do. I guess I’m a little weird, but that’s okay.
We have some things to look forward to, but as always, life, like my husband and I and the way we dream, is a little ephemeral. Nothing is quite set in stone. However, this year (tomorrow to be exact) I finally get to see a specialist about my foot. I kind of dream of running again, but when I think about it, it’s just a solo accomplishment and not a competitive one, and just being on the trail is where I find one of the happiest moments in life. Here’s to hoping something can be done about my foot. I don’t even worry about the pain so much as the weakness that causes imbalance.
Another thing is that we’ve been talking about getting an electric car. The other option is public transit, which we do as well, but the trains around rush hour are always packed, and now more so than ever for some reason. Sometimes you have to wait for a train that’s not full, and it takes a while to get to work. I haven’t even bought a car since I lived in California, when I purchased my first new car ever, a Jeep Wrangler in 2001. I had always wanted one, and it was a lot of fun driving it. When I sold it eight years later, it hadn’t depreciated much. It was a lot of fun to have in a mild climate–not so much in winter. Once I moved away from California, back to the Midwest, it just seemed to drive terribly in snow and on ice. Anyway, we’re just thinking of a new car now. It sucks to have to drive at all. We’d only consider electric or a hybrid at this point. We have a car that’s almost 20 years old, and it still runs well, but it’s one my husband’s dad gave us.
And then there’s trying to plan vacation this year. We did not get to go on vacation last summer, and have some Alaskan tickets to use. We’re thinking Hawaii or Alaska, but haven’t decided yet. On my bucket list is “seeing the Aurora Borealis” before I die. And a big glacier. So I am kind of hoping we’ll decide on Alaska. I have never been there.
We’re also doing some scuba diving lessons this spring, however, so if we go to Hawaii, we could dive there. We don’t want to go to Oahu again, rather the big island, which is less touristy. We’ve also found some off-grid primitive style housing to stay in, which is pretty cheap. So the idea of hanging out away from people and on the beach and with wild things appeals to me quite a bit. Some of these off-grid cottages are built on fruit plantations, and guests can go pick fruit if they stay there.
The other thing I’m really looking forward to is my own novels. I have made the decision to turn the Wild Mountain books into a duology instead of trilogy. I just don’t think the story is there for a saga, and the final novel takes place in Ireland, and I can just feel it and have been aching to write it. My Up the River novel is also taking shape!
And then there’s the every day plans we make. Our best friends in the area came over on Christmas Eve and again on New Year’s Eve, and we’ve decided to do some tent-camping again. I’d like to check out Golden Ears Provincial Park. It’s not too far away and allows for canoeing, hiking, rafting, all the good stuff.
The featured image is by jaisril and has a creative commons license. The photo shows Mt. Judge Howay in Golden Ears Provincial Park in B.C. This image was taken from the Skyline Divide hike in the Mount Baker area in Washington.