Well they were officially out of school for another day with nothing on the agenda.  Everything was cancelled: schools, activities, and even some businesses. It was time to just hunker down, eat cake and have multiple movie marathons.  Movie of choice:  Twilight Series.  Not just once either. Oh to be a teenager.

When days start before the sun rises and the kids come home after the sun has set, I curl into myself with the grey and the dark pushing me down. Though with this snow, it glistened outside with a frozen layer covered by the sparkling white. There was just something so restorative about the snowfall. It made me happy, deep, inside, to see the world sparkling, clean, almost pure.  I was compelled to get outside and breathe that air that almost hurt my lungs but was refreshing at the same time. Everywhere I looked there was something that caught my attention, something that struck me. It made me pause in this season of go-go, this time of tiredness that tends to be a slog with no festivities in sight.  I came back from these snowy walks invigorated and able to deal with cooped up teenagers, dirty dishes, laundry, and the need for groceries and meals. I had reset and felt the lightness of the day instead of the dark.

I thought we were done with winter. I had noticed the tulips starting to sprout in the garden. Then it hit.  At first it was just rain, very cold rain then freezing rain. It coated the outside world with ice. The car windows and doors were under a layer of ice so thick that we had to chisel to get into it.  Job rolled his window down and pushed on the layer of ice to clear his side window. It was beautiful though. After the freezing rain came the snow. It snowed and it snowed and school was cancelled.  Day after day, I waited to see if the kids were going back to school. Activities around town were cancelled as well as John's work. Essential personnel only, he wasn't essential.  He went any way, at least four hours a day. It was quiet there. I let the kids sleep in here.  It was hard enough getting work done with all of them home so I only did it in the mornings while they slept and if it was quiet work. With them sleeping, it gave me quiet time, time to think and work without interruption, without trying to put out different fires, without trying to fit all my stuff to do into their schedules. They enjoyed the week off, I'm trying to put everything back in order from it.

Are we crazy? We decided to host our youth group Super Bowl party at our house.  We put the game on, set out snacks, anwered the door and had kids over. We played indoor games, ate, and then it was half time.  Something that has been a tradition at our house was to play football during half time.  This year it was snowy and cold and I could only stay out for a little bit.  The girls stayed in but the boys came back snowy and ready to watch the rest of the game.  Oh, and who was playing in the game anyway?

The snow fell gently outside the house. Another rare winter day for us. I placed my mug under the Keurig spout and brewed another cup of coffee. The house was quiet for now but I knew if the flakes kept falling the kids would be out of school again. Picking up some left over yarn from the hat I made Isaac, I decided to make socks to go along with it.  I thought about mittens, but college boys do NOT wear mittens. They wear gloves, and performance gloves at that. A scarf was also out of the question. So I settled on socks. I found a pair on Ravelry and casted on. Part way through I realized that it wasn't going to work so I unraveled the yarn and wound it back into a ball.  Yarn is a funny thing. When the color is plain and has no variation it works great to pair it with a contrasting color. However when there is variation to it, pairing it is more difficult since the contrasting yarn color shouldn't be in the ball of yarn with variation. I can't seem to be able to keep the pattern when the yarn colors are too similar.  I find myself loving the plain monocolored yarns being knitted together.  There is just something satisfying about weaving the colors in and around each other while watching the pattern appear. I had made socks like this for Job a while back using similar colors only grey socks with red circles instead of the maroon color. As my needles and yarn dance, my mind goes to the person I'm knitting for. Sometimes I pray as I knit, sometimes I reminisce of times gone by with that person. This day I sat in my sanctuary, my living room, and I knitted as the snow started to pile up and it felt just right to be still and watch and enjoy the quiet.

She's been playing soccer since she was 5. One year she was encouraged by a couple of older gals to try out for a developmental league.  She did and she made it. Then she tried out for a select soccer league and she made it. For the last three years she was on a C team for that soccer league. She's had friends that moved onto the B team then onto the A team. She's played positions all over the field. She was always hoping to move up but it seemed as though she was stuck on the C team. And then it happened, the B team coach asked her to play a game and she was excited. It wasn't her regular team but she loved it. She loved the girls, she loved the coach. The team lost and she still loved it. She practiced with them a couple of times and was asked again to play.  She did and continued to love it. She didn't play her regular position and still loved it. Sometimes she looked lost on the field, sometimes she looked dialed in and ready. She played more games with them, practiced more and then her season with her team ended. They had the end of year party. They said goodbye to their regular coach and that was that, except it wasn't.  She was asked along with 6 of her other team mates to join this B team for a "mini" season. A tournament season and she was thrilled. It was what she wanted. She wanted to be able to say that she made it to the B team. She wants to make it to her senior year in this league.  She's having fun again and excited. We will see where this chance takes her. Maybe it will take her to the B team for the next year. Maybe it won't.  We will have to see, but for right now, she's excited and happy.

How many times have I walked into this building? How many games have I watched to see the outcome be the same? How many photos have I taken of my kids, of my husband coaching? Too many times of each thing. Yet I keep going. I keep watching, keep taking photos, keep cheering. The kids have fun, the coach does too.  The outcome while sometimes discouraging really doesn't matter. They are getting out there, getting involved, doing something. Some of these kids only have this game in common. Some of these kids wouldn't be able to play unless this team was created. In the end it is about supporting however I can, by a photograph, by a encouraging word, and by showing up. There are games I can't make it to for one reason or another, however when I do, I bring my camera and cheer. Then on the way home, I listen as the game is replayed, analysed and discussed.

I arrived at the bridge and the valley hadn't yet woken up. The sun was still just a hint of brightness behind the hill. The fog clung to the river as I walked out onto the gravel bar. I heard them, the eagles as they called to each other. There were one or two in the trees the rest hiding. I wandered along the river in my knee high rain boots. I wore them so I could cross some of the shallow spots and venture further than if I just wore hiking shoes. The further away from the bridge the less eagles I heard. Thinking I had come to late in the season I started heading back to the car but I took my time just in case and in no hurry to head home. This was my therapy. My quiet time. I stopped and turned, marveling in the way the sun streamed through the trees as it cleared the hill. The illuminated fog took my breath away as it trailed along the ground. There was just magic out there in the quiet, the stillness of the valley waking up. Slowly I made my way back to the car and then it happened. The eagles, they started to emerge from the trees. They soared over head, looking for their first meal of the day. The spawning salmon carcasses were still available to these birds and they hadn't totally disappeared from the river.  There were fewer left than before and may be the resident eagles in this part but still just as impressive as ever.