I'm feeling the end of summer, the beginning of fall, here in the mountains. With it comes a pensive feeling for the start of winter. I always seem to feel this way at this time of the year. It's not that I don't like winter, I actually love it. No, it has more to do with the isolation that winter will bring. Snow, icy roads, a 25 mile drive on winding roads to Reno, and a mountain pass to get to Sacramento, where my brother lives. So, we will not head out as often. My husband will buy a season pass to his favorite ski resort, but I will need to find my own release from cabin fever. I quit skiing several years ago, after a particularly bad fall. I realized I was never a good skier, and I had actually become downright dangerous.
There is a new Pilate's studio nearby, so between that and the big indoor pool for swimming, I will keep going with my goal of losing weight, and getting fit.
We are enjoying this last big weekend. Dinner with friends from Arizona last night, a lunch-party with my cousin this afternoon, followed by a friend's birthday party in another part of Reno this evening. He is from New York and is having cold cuts flown in for his party. Evidently Reno lacks in the cold-cut department.
We feel blessed to have friends and family this weekend. We feel blessed to have a home, and enough of everything. We'll pass on thinking about our problems for the day. Instead we will live in the moment, and be thankful for all that we have that is so wonderful in our lives.
22 comments:
Have a great weekend, and enjoy all the wonderful things life has to offer.
sounds wonderful...sometimes it is refreshing to stop and consider all the ways we are blessed...enjoy your weekend~!
I bet the New York folks are getting pastrami and corned beef to build sky-highs as they make at Carnegie Deli. And yes, nothing else will do.
The prospect of some quiet months for reflection and creativity sounds appealing to me - hope you don't feel too isolated. Enjoy this last burst of summer togetherness!
Sounds like you have fine plans for hunkering down this winter. Appreciation for the season being number one.
We are having gale-force winds blowing leaves around, blustery showers, and cool, verging on cold, weather. Definitely feels like summer's end.
When I lived in Lake Tahoe I discovered snowshoeing, and I highly recommend it as an alternative to skiing. You use poles and don't slip and slide, not much chance of a bad fall.
The winter months do give us such an appreciation of the rest of the year, and it's perfect for reflection. Your blogging friends (me especially) are looking forward to many great discussions here!
How funny...flying in cold cuts! I never knew they were so important!
I used to get very sad with that first cool breeze that feels so out of place at the end of summer. It was a kind of a nostalgic feeling, like it was time to move on but I couldn't quite return to the place where I wanted to be. Perhaps it was the back to school blues.
The last five or six years, I've turned the winter's isolation into my most productive time. I've learned to love it when I used to see it with anxiety. I don't know even how it happened, but it has. It sounds as if you are in a transition about it all, too. I think winter sometimes gets a bum rap, don't you? I think of it as my body's hibernation, but my spirit's release. I can't go out, so I trick myself. Well, what CAN I do but turn to what I'd like to do anyway? Hole up and paint and write poetry or whatever. Silly, I suppose. It is refreshing to read an entry that closes with contentedness like yours. I get scared for the future. But for today, for right now? I have enough. Thanks for reminding me of the importance of that recognition.
Yes, I always feel a little sad to see summer end, but I love the holiday months of fall. Thanksgiving and Christmas make me happy.
It's funny that you mention having enough. I was just thinking about that this morning in the shower. I sometimes pray for friends to always have enough of what they need; enough strength, enough courage, enough food, enough money, enough love, enough to feel contentment. I know I am blessed with enough to keep me grateful inside. I count my blessings often.
Well, it sounds like you are having a wonderful weekend.
I applaud you for sticking with your goal of maintaining your fitness. I need to start doing something to keep fit.
Leaves are falling/
Fog is rising/
Bring wine, the golden/
To golden these days.
Each season of our lives calls to reverie, a presence and an awakening of the new. May we all be in celebration of a moment NOW and in gratitude for the grace of our offerings.
Blessings and all good things ahead, Rose Marie
i must admit i would not mind being in a little mountain cabin this winter - all i need is a good supply of firewood, a stocked pantry that includes chocolate and wine, my books, pens and lots of paper, a few canvases and paints and brushes, some candles, incense, warm blankets - oh, running water - electrical power or a generator? - a 4wheel drive and maybe a pinto pony - did i forget anything - and i'm set till spring - haven't had a cabin winter in way too long -
anyway, glad you're having a nice weekend - it's good to let everything else go sometimes and just enjoy - and be happy for all that we do have - good for you! peace - jenean
oh, i knew i forgot something - jeremiah johnson checking on me...
I think someone needs to have a talk with the tourism office in Reno. A lack of good cold cuts is a serious detractor.
But thankfully your good friends visit you anyway. A blessing indeed.
I was just thinking these same thoughts Nancy. Many blessings to you and yours for the weekend, and always!
Oh, and what about snowshoeing? have you tried it? I've heard its a great workout, while staying safe. Also, have you seen standup paddleboarding on the lake? I've heard Lake Tahoe is perfect for it. It's safe and easy and a fantastic way to exercise. ok, i'll be quiet now! can you tell i'm dying to get out of the house?!
Sounds like you are having a wonderful weekend. Maybe if you set some goals for the winter, you won't feel so isolated or bored. Write so many chapters in your book, read a couple of books, clean closets, try new recipes, etc. Maybe if you wrote out weekly goals, the time would go by faster.
It sounds as if you are having a perfect week-end, sharing food with family and friends. I loved the image you showed, such huge sky!
I am raising my eye brow here at "flying in cold cuts".. Can you say locavorism?
Hi Nancy! Gosh I know that cabin fever feeling! I had that last winter, at times it was unbearable. I love the idea of a Pilates studio...I used to have some dvd's and it was quite a workout! Funny, this winter, I'll be concentrating on findng a good gym too, with a pool and some spinning classes. I may even try some cross country skiing, have you ever done that? I spent years here in Orford, a.k.a. "ski central" but I don't think I ever got the downhill ski bug! Riding the chair lift in the summer is the best I can do, lol.
Children return to school or leave home for college at this time of year - reason enough for a certain melancholy to be associated with the season.
I hope you've enjoyed a good weekend and the delight of pleasant company.
We are not yet feeling much of a tinge of fall here in Sonoma but I am sure we will soon, as the birds are beginning to migrate...our only sign for the most part...
hoping you are having a wonderful weekend...your plans for winter sound good to me so far...especially an indoor pool :)
xo
Cold cuts?! Not appropriately available in Reno? Hmmmmm. Hey, do you remember Tony's Delicatessen in downtown Reno, right down by the river? I forget which street, a real narrow side street off of Virginia. O, man, the aromas when you walked in and that big vat of pickles right by the door.....
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