Sliding into Winter

We’re sliding into the winter months here in the northern hemisphere. Of course that looks different for all of us, depending where you are in the world, or even your own country. Here in Colorado we had our first snow and the days are getting quite noticeably shorter. I wake up in the darkness and the sun sets shortly after I pick up my daughter from preschool in the evenings. For a lot of people this time of year is hard – they miss the warmth and long days of sunlight.

For me, I kind of like the dark. Actually there are a lot of things I like about it. I enjoy watching the sunrise in the mornings, something I don’t get to see in the summer because I don’t wake up early enough. And I especially enjoy the alpenglow at twilight in the depth of winter, looking across snowy fields to the purple hues along the horizon as the sun goes down. 

And what better thing to do in winter than read lots of books! I love being active outside, but sometimes I really enjoy snowy gray days (or even rainy – but that doesn’t happen much in Colorado) because of the change it brings. On those days that you don’t really want to go outside it’s such a great excuse to fall into a book, whip out the art supplies, or take time to write a poem or story. I do also love getting outside to ski, walk or sled with kiddos, but I think there might be more balanced “active” and “down time” when the days are a bit shorter, and I am wholly ready for this new season.