#4

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Stop for a moment and soak in the stillness. The serene beauty. The long-forgotten wonder of fresh snowfall. The quality of light so rare for my eyes, crisp and diffused at the same time--giving definition to the trees, branches, but soothing over what lies between. The snow as negative space, in which to rest the eyes--and the spirit.

Those of you who live in snowy areas may not be able to appreciate that photo. But keep in mind we are Colorado transplants who now live at the edge of the Pacific (see last entry). This past weekend we got to go stay with some of D's cousins up at Lake Tahoe (five minutes from Heavenly, if you know the area--the name says it all) so he could celebrate his 40th birthday with downhill skiing, something he loves but has not done since we lived in CO. We had a fantastic weekend--his cousin's sister and her family came up too, so we three familes under one roof enjoyed late pajama breakfasts, all-house hide and seek, lots of sledding, snowball-making, icesicle eating. My kids have never played in REAL snow, and I loved, loved, loved them getting the chance. These cousins are D's mom's second oldest sister's daughters, if you can follow that. We have seen them fairly often over the years, but only up in Chico when lots of family gathers for holidays and special occassions, and when we are all staying at different sisters' homes, and don't get to choose who we do what with. So we have never had more than fleeting moments here and there to get to know each others' families in any meaningful way. This was such an amazing opportunity to get to know one another away from family stresses and rigid expectations. Everyone was relaxed and without pretention.

The best part for me was Saturday afternoon, when the dads and older kids were skiing, the kids were all having quiet reading time or naps, and us three moms curled up with tea or Diet Coke to swap stories and do the female bonding upon which I thrive. None of us put on makeup--or even showered on Saturday. ; ) We were completely comfortable just being our unadorned selves, and spoke without adornment too, freely sharing stories about family that helped us understand one another better and encouraged one another.

And as we chatted, the snow silently fell.

The photo above somehow illustrates the stripped-down peace I felt that afternoon. I have not been in a snowfall for years, certainly not such a surreally peaceful wilderness snowfall. The house was at the end of a cul-de-sac and beyond the wide glass windows was nothing but trees and snow and steely sky. I had forgotten how beautiful is, how perfectly calm.

I was aware of being really happy.

We have all agreed to make this an annual gathering!