Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

January came in a hot mess and is going out a hot mess. Thankfully, in between we had some really lovely, sunny days. Just last week the sun made an appearance a couple of days, giving me and the boys a chance to get out and enjoy the warmth several times each day. Friday evening, though, straight through yesterday, rain fell. Overnight it turned to snow. The snow is still falling now, which is fine by me. If I had my druthers, I'd rather have snow to take walks in than rain. Snow is just more fun. But it's time to say so long to January. It's been a good month. Lovely Beautiful Daughter turned 29 and Angel Baby turned 22. We were going to celebrate both birthdays today, but out of an abundance of caution we decided to wait for a day when the roads aren't slick. That might not be until April or May, but we've become used to waiting to see each other. The last year has taught us to be patient. I've been working on my book. Not making a ton of progress because I...

The weather improved enough during the last week, with temps reaching the upper 30's during the day, the sun shining on and off, melting most of the snow and ice, that the possibility of getting out for a ride became reality Friday and yesterday. I get all giddy thinking about riding, and once I'm on the bike, I revel in the wind against my cheeks, the warmth of the scarf around my neck, and the strength of my legs as I pedal. Even this morning, as I stood looking out over the back deck, watching the rain come down, my thoughts went to riding later today, in the rain. I want to feel the rain, listen to it splatter up, spit high into the air as the tires of my bike roll along the road. I was rolling along all happy Friday morning. I'd not ridden my commuter to work since reporting back three weeks ago, first because the temperatures were in the single digits and the real feel was in the negative double digits, then because we had a good snow that covered the roads, turned ...