good news : winter is alive and well in california!!

last week, before ceej left the country on business for two long weeks,
we took a short, but oh so lovely, ski trip to echo lake in the sierras.
i got a couple of blisters, and ceej was kind and took it easy the entire day...
he even bandaged my "wounds" for me
{after i fell over trying to stand on one leg while still attached to skiis}.

it was fun to see this lake during winter
with the docks covered with snow,
and finding peeps of color from little boats stowed away for the cold months.

i think i wouldn't mind having a little cabin on this lake.
think of the summer fun you could have swimming, canoeing, hiking, and
roasting marshmallows...
and the winters full of hot cocoa, cross country skiing, and moonlight sledding!

our little snow picnic was perfect.
we found a dock where the sun had melted away a little snow...
making it the perfect place to settle in to enjoy our little lunch,
hot cocoa and all!
love that ceej packs in his little stove to make sure i've got something
to put in my mouth to keep me as warm as possible.
oh, how he takes care of me!
miss him so very much.

i headed out while ceej ran up another mountain quickly to ski a bit more...
and a storm moved in.
it was one of those storms with big flakes and no wind.
so very beautiful and peaceful...
yet i felt a slight sense of terror, realizing what such a soft storm
meant for people in the mid nineteenth century crossing these mountains
and getting trapped.
beautiful. terrible.
mother earth is a wondrous woman.

i was really beginning to feel like my days of winter were a myth of old...
happy to find snow still covering the mountains.
i love spring, but i don't fully trust it...
because it leads to the heat of summer.
i'll take spring, fall, winter any day.