Happy Yule, Happy Winter Solstice!

Mountains make pretty magical snowflakes.

Today is the Winter Solstice. It’s the longest night of the year, the shortest day, and I looove it. Last night we picked Grandma up from the airport and were treated to the soft shimmering of green Aurora Borealis. They really do dance across the sky. Gosh, it's such a treat to see them! The pretty display didn’t last long, but it brought such a sense of magic and wonder to this already wonderful time of year. It was quite a stellar welcome for both grandma and the Solstice.

Some holidays are boisterous, full of revelry and merry-making. For me that will start in a few days when we celebrate Christmas. Yay! Spending holidays with family and friends totally fills my bucket. I’ll be honest, the Holidays used to bring me so much stress and unresolved emotions, but now I allow myself to soak up all the joy and happiness of the season and just have fun. Stress and baggage can wait for another day, because now is the time to be merry. 

And for me, today is the quiet reflection of Yule before the upcoming boisterous, happy storm. When I celebrate the birth of the sun, the wheel turning again, the tipping point where the days start to get longer again, I like to keep it soft and quiet and just silently beam all day. It is a very good day.

It really is a wonderful time of the year. However you celebrate, have a wonderful Holiday Season full of Peace, Joy, Love and Fun! Happy Holidays!

Playing Outside in Winter

On the drive in today I heard Norquay is opening on Tomorrow, Lake Louise on Friday and Sunshine on November 11th. To anyone not familiar, that’s code for it’s ski season in the Canadian Rockies! This news brings joy to so many people and for me it brings the solid knowledge . . . that I am so not a downhill skier. *drops head in shame*

Snowshoeing the Canadian Rockies

I tried. Well, most recently my efforts have been taking a lesson/going once a season, blasting my quads for the morning and then grabbing a beer and writing while I wait in the non-terrifying warmth of one of the hill’s bars with absolutely zero elevation changes while waiting for my husband and kidlette to finish their afternoon, if that is trying, then yes, I rocked that!

I love the Rockies and have SO much fun on the bunny hills out here (don’t let the name fool you, they’re frickin’ huge). But I’ve realized what I like most about skiing is hanging out on mountains in winter. As much fun as I had on those bunny hills, as soon as I go on a regular run somewhere on the way down somewhere is a shockingly steep part. It’s all fun and games until the crazy steep parts. I know that’s the point of skiing, its called downhill for a reason, but being terrified isn’t fun. I mean there’s beer and coffee at the bottom, why scare myself when I could be having a pint and writing?

But if I’m in the bar writing, I’m not gawking at the Rocky Mountain winter splendour, really immersing myself in the outdoor awesomeness, which fills my bucket right full. Being on top of a mountain, snow all around and all over the trees, each peak and range full of majesty - it is an incredible sight to behold. When more snow is falling it feels like you’re in the middle of magic, when the sun is shining and making the snow twinkle it feels like anything is possible, when the sun is shining and the snow is blowing it feels like you’re in a snow globe and you can’t imagine anything more beautiful.

Winter Mountain Wonderland, Canadian Rockies

A conundrum to be sure. Unless I admit my downhill days are either behind me or somewhere in the future and I should focus on the winter sports that don’t terrify me, like cross country skiing, snow shoeing, winter hiking, sledding, pond ice skating, having a soak in a hot springs while it’s snowing . . . a wait, that last one isn’t a sport, but it feels so good and is so pretty, especially after an active day outside in the cold.

There are so many ways to play outside in winter. What are your favourites?!

Happy Winter Solstice

Celebrating the Seasons

I love celebrating the seasons, including the turn of the seasons. Although we had a doozy of a snow dump in September, the rest of fall was actually pretty fall-ish. Calgary's seasons have their own rhythm and the calendar date seems to have limited influence. That can be said about a lot of places. Getting to know the nuances of the seasons of a particular place is one of the great relationships we have access to.

Yup, I called it a relationship. That's what it feels like. Knowing a place well, knowing it's moods, knowing you are a better person for having experienced it and swearing the feeling is mutual . . .  To the average conversation, sharing that a landscape noticed you might sound odd, but, well, welcome to my world. Sometimes you just feel a place. 

In celebration of Winter Solstice, or Yule as many call it, I've included some pics of a few of my happy wintery places. 

How do you celebrate Winter Solstice?

Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Niagara Escarpment, Ontario, Canada