Snow changes everything

As I sit at the breakfast table, soaking up the morning sunlight coming through the window, JF notices how different my mood is since there is snow outside. "Of course, I say, the light is so different!" It is so luminous and joyful when there is snow, so... white!

I will take a sunny snowy day over a gray rainy one anytime! Even when we lived in Costa Rica, I noticed how my mood was different when there was a gray rainy day... You would have thought that with all the sun from the previous months, my solar batteries should have been charged, but it seems like they don't keep their charge very long!

The first snow was such a treat to all of us. My Yukon-born girls were so thrilled after 3 years without a real winter!

When we walked outside today along the same path we take many times a week, Mathilde said: "Mama, everything is so different when there is snow! It's like a new place that I want to explore!" It's so true. Everything looks so different, the smell in the air is not the same and we notice new things, as if we were seeing them for the first time...

As the wind bites my cheek and my thighs burn from the cold, I remind myself to relax into winter. My body is one big contraction, my shoulders are up to my ears, my fists are clenched in my pockets. If I am not careful, the cold hardens me and I end up hating it for that, but if I pay attention, dress properly, choose the right time of day to be outside, I can see winter through my girls eyes, I can truly revel in the joy and playfulness of that season.