Winter Landscape

I want to focus on some of my favorite features of the winter landscape over the next few weeks, things in the yard and woods that aren’t as apparent when everything leafs out or that get lost in the shuffle when blooms start to happen again.

I’ve shown this little Japanese maple lots of times on the blog, it’s gorgeous when it leafs out, tiny pale green leaves with red edges, but it’s also a wonderful little brush now in winter. I don’t know its name but it won’t ever get taller than this, just keeps reaching out. David transplanted the moss below it last year and the green has taken nicely and is slowly creeping out and around the tree.

Walking out to hang the laundry yesterday I was struck by how very happy I was feeling, just to have the time and freedom to walk out on a warm and sunny day and hang the wash. Thinking about how since I’m working less, I’m not making as much money but its enough. And instead of money I have time; to do things like hang out the wash, bake fresh bread, grow and cook fresh food and take walks in the woods. And that time and flexibility is more valuable to me than all the money in the world. I’m so lucky to have figured it out, to have had the opportunity to step back and decide how I wanted to live my life more fully, more wholly.

Snow is coming down now, supposed to get close to 8 inches, and we'll be free tomorrow for long walks in the wonderful quiet whiteness.  Amen.