A Quiet Winter Day

Emery had a fire in the stove blazing before I even woke. He even got up in the middle of the night to load it with firewood so that the house would not get too cold, and before he climbed back into bed, he pulled the covers up around my shoulders, an act of tender love. I woke long enough to feel his big hands tucking the covers around my chin. I am blessed.

When day broke, I dressed in record time, the floor was cold under my bare feet, colder than I had felt in years. Even the water in the jug on the kitchen counter was ice cold this morning when I poured myself a cup. This is quite the cold snap. Looking out the back door, rimmed with frost, the corners of each pane looking just like a picture from a Christmas story book. I counted it a blessing that no milking chores were waiting for me, but still I miss the goats and know without a doubt that the barn will hold new goats in time. I am just a country girl and always will be. We don't seem to travel after all and prefer to putter around here on any leisure moment.

I have been eating raw foods now for a week and am amazed at how good I feel. Boundless energy and a lightness that is hard to describe. And, I have lost 6 1/2 lbs so far. We have decided to have cooked one cooked meal a week, a healthy one to be sure. Today on the wood stove sits a big pot of vegetable soup for our evening meal. The smell of the simmering soup fills the house with a winter goodness that brings many memories to mind. Little girls sitting at the table, spoons that look too big for their little mouths in hand, wanting to be big girls ! Spoonfuls of warm soup being enjoyed. Warm bread beside their bowls on princess plates. Other memories of young boys complaining that soup wasn't filling enough for them. They needed a "real" meal. I just smile remembering such times and amazed at how quickly time passes.

The afternoon is slow and easy, time to read a bit, time to spin some by the window, watching a woodpecker in the pine tree. It is a simple day, an ordinary day, yet so full of beauty and love that my heart feels a contentment beyond words. How blessed I feel to have time to enjoy this quiet winter day.

soup simmers on the wood stove

ice build up on the window sill

reading for the day, an old edition, a gift from Melissa

a toasty warm room first thing this morning, thanks to a loving husband