Winter, Abridged Edition
It's weekends like the one just past that help me get through weeks as busy as the last three have been and the next three are sure to be. The serendipitous intersection of the year's first real snow, beautiful weather, free time and proximity to Christmas made for a wonderful two days, packed with more than we usually manage to do in a month: playing in the snow, visiting Santa, going out to eat, putting up Christmas lights, making my now-famous egg nog, singing Christmas songs around the piano, etc. One of my favorite hours was the one spent outside on Saturday afternoon. It was one of those rare winter days where there's plenty of fresh snow on the ground, the sun is shining and it's warm enough to play but not so warm that the snow starts to get slushy and wet. There are few things in the world that take me back to the pure, unadultered joy of childhood like sledding. I can't wait until Veronika and her little brother start enjoying it as much as I do so I can see their faces light up like that.
Until then, feel free to enjoy some pictures of children in their mid-twenties to very early-thirties playing like they are eight again.