Finally Thawing Out

 

Another mental health greenhouse stop on my travels. I bought a mint plant and a primrose to brighten up my space. I know mint is renowned for being an aggressive spreader, so I'm going to be very careful about where I plant it in the yard. Perhaps it will be a container plant.

The numbers are in and we endured 19 consecutive days in which the temperatures stayed below the freezing point. We are into the high thirties now, so the snow cover is slowly melting. Now I can stop complaining about our miserable weather! Maybe.

Another casualty of this harsh winter. It was a very ramshackle barn but it couldn't withstand this winter.
The house behind it was just built in the fall.

Peggy and Rich came over for our (hopefully) final meeting to arrange a trip for the X-C ski club for 2027. We had a phone consult with a travel agency so now we just wait for their Chamonix proposal, send it to the club and I am bowing out. I joined the group with high hopes, but it just isn't what I'd hoped. I've also discovered I much prefer downhill skiing to cross country, so I'll transition to another club for next year. In the meantime, I have 2 cross country ski trips in March I get to enjoy, in Vermont and then Norway. 

The frozen lake on my walk keeps changing as people make use of its solid state.

No skiing last week as my knee has been acting up and I've just been icing it, walking, and strength training a bit. I plan to ski tomorrow in CT, so we'll see how it is fairing. My small book club met at my house for our discussion of Frozen River. I read it in January, so I had to do a little review to get the 30 or so characters back into my head. I'm glad I kept a little notebook of all the characters because it got confusing. I made a big salad and others brought appetizers and dessert. A hot tub session capped off the day.

2/17/26 Ski Day! I drove to Connecticut to meet my sister Theresa and her friend Laura to ski on a warmish day. My knee was fine after four hours of skiing, but the rest of me was getting tired!

We were all worried the mountain would be mobbed since it is winter break week. We were so happy to find it wasn't crowded at all! We had the mountain to ourselves for the first two runs, and this was as busy as it got. No lift lines to speak of at all.

Happy skiers and for the first time my face is showing. 

Theresa pointed out this plaque about the man who founded Mohawk Ski Resort. Those are his skis. She's going to loan me the book she's reading on the history of the mountain when she's done.



Driving through quaint New England villages is one of the pleasures of getting to Mohawk Mountain.

Theresa sent this picture of collecting sap at her home after our day of skiing. She has been making maple syrup for the past 20 years from the maple trees on their property. 


I have to say, I'm so happy to be spending so much more time with my sister now that my Mom has passed. We used to coordinate our visits to Mom's so that one of us was there when the other wasn't. That meant we were rarely there at the same time and didn't see much of each other. I'm so grateful to spend time with her now, even as I miss Mom so much.

Comments

  1. MargaretFebruary 18, 2026 at 11:59 AM

    Believe it or not, we're currently colder than you are and even had a little snow. Snowmaggedon, WA style. LOL Did your Book Club like "Frozen River?" I loved that book. It's excellent that you know what you want from skiing; I prefer downhill also. Cross country is great exercise but too much of a slog for me. That's wonderful that you're spending more time with your sister. My brother and I are trying to make sure we keep in contact; it was much more frequent when Mom was alive and when we were working on selling her house.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MaureenFebruary 18, 2026 at 12:29 PM

    We all really liked Frozen River, though we're tired of reading about our country's oppressive history. Next read is Olive Kitteridge, by Strout. It's nice to have siblings I'd be friends with even if not related!

    ReplyDelete

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