Sunday Morning

It's a beautiful Sunday morning in the Interior of Alaska.  Beauty, I've learned, comes in different forms here, and your heart will be happier if you learn to appreciate all the beauty Alaska has to offer.  Summer is my favorite season, as the hills, trees, ditches, and mountains come alive.  But early winter or late fall in Alaska has a particular beauty as well.

We got a sprinkling of snow last night.  Not much, but enough to cover the ground.  Our world is slowly turning white.  Hoar frost covers the trees and brings a bulkiness and elegance to ratty old weeds that were previously ugly and brown.  The ground crunches underneath your feet, and you can hear silence every where you go.  The sky is dull and gray, but instead of being depressing it makes the perfect backdrop for the white blanket.  It's a somber feeling, a quiet feeling.

As I sit here sipping tea, made from the berries we picked, cleaned and froze by hand, laced with a bit of fireweed honey, I feel rather content.  The furbabes are snuggled up, napping after a busy morning of breakfast and a little bit of playtime in the yard while their toes adjust to the newly fallen white stuff.  They're happy to be wrapped in warmth from the flames dancing in the stove.

Brent had a touch of the flu yesterday, and I'm happy to report that he is fully recovered.  The sun is rising later, so we were both able to sleep in this morning.  Of course, with later sunrises also comes earlier sunsets, so by 9 p.m. we get awfully drowsy.

Brent is making breakfast, and it sounds like quite a production.  I can see him moving lively and happily in front of the stove, but I do not dare ask what he is cooking.  He likes to surprise me with his sometimes questionable concoctions.  Some day I'll have to tell you about when he blindfolded me in order to get me to eat the dinner that he prepared, early in our married years.

I like winter and all it's ambiance.  Of course that's easy to say since it's early in the year, and not late February.  But for now the world is white, quiet and oh so very pretty.  Of course my urge to drive anywhere is nil.  But my nerve will come with time.

Happy Sunday! Stay warm.