That time of the year when the whip of the wind is at moments awakening, and full of vibrancy, and at others harsh and assaulting. A time of year where hot cocoa and popcorn becomes my favourite snack, and tea is consumed in copious amounts. Winter feels like a time of settling in, being somewhat satisfied and cozy, but also an anticipatory time; as the light slowly grows longer and longer after the winter solstice, the length of my dreams about the warm spring also grows, at moments, filled with doubt that this snow and ice will ever melt, and that the flora and fauna, which has been so frozen and hushed during these months, will never be able to blossom and grow into the abundance of late summer...
I have this crazy love - masked - hatred relationship with the winter in Ottawa (picture a happy snowglobe, singing a little happy tune, loving the flakes falling, covered on the outside in a green slime - this is the image that just came into my mind's eye) . And I should specify that I am particularly talking about my relationship with winter in Ottawa, as I'm certain the same relationship does not exist in all other areas/cities. These are things I absolutely love about winter in Ottawa.
1. Hot Cocoa (the real homemade kind)
2. Gatineau park cross country skiing! Either for the day or staying overnight in cozy cabins in the woods - both are so beautiful and so fun.
3. Feeling like a (crazy?) warrior on my bike
4. Skating on 'the worlds largest skating rink' i.e. the Rideau canal, both for pleasure, and occasionally transportation
5. The immense appreciation of summer it invokes (seriously that has to count as a thing I love about winter)
6. The relaxed and quiet pleasure of slowing down a bit, of being cozy, in big slippers, cuddling with a sweetie, or warming oneself by a fire
7. Warm soups and stews
Mmm yes, all nice things. In avoidance of listing off the reasons why winter is hard, and setting a very boring tone of negativity, I will instead just say, that physically - my body was not made for these temperatures. As a folk who appreciates a heck of a lot of outside time, and doesn't back down on that outside time (very much) in the winter, I just wish that blood would flow a bit better to my poor wee fingers and toes. I've tried the cayanne and ginger tricks - no benefitissimo (yup, just made that word up, and I'm diggin' it).
So you might wonder about what I've been up to, what I've learned this winter thus far. Or maybe you don't wonder, and so, I say dear reader, you have the autonomy to click that little x and the top of your screen and stop reading this post. But if you're curious....
I'm excited. I love when life is exciting. Makes me feel more spark and zest. I'm working at Otesha currently, just passing the one year mark in the role of Programs Coordinator. And it's been a hoot, lots of fun rollercoastering for the organization, and I am now quite clear about my future work life with the organization, that fundamentally changed my worldview of this delicate planet we behold each day...
I'm in tour coordination mode, planning a tour of the Maritimes, looking after the programming for orientation week, and interviewing all applicants for tour. My contract with Otesha will end come May, when, I will adventure on bicycle once again! Not sure for how long, not sure exactly where but I will certainly start out on bike post - Otesha - training week to cycle around the Maritimes.
I've got this pattern going on. It makes me feel a bit vulnerable to share it here - to you the unknown readership, but vulnerability helps me grow, so here I go.
I can't maintain consistency for too long. This pattern holds true I think in a few different spheres of my life - work, living location, perhaps breaching into relationships too (that is the one that is scariest to admit and work on). Really, this pattern isn't inherently negative or positive I'd argue, it's just a bit of me that I need to acknowledge and potential work on it if I desire to change. Here's another way to put it: I feel uneasy when I am locked into anything for too long. Not sure what the root of the unease is, but I will find out some day perhaps. I feel like this world is so big, I am so big, and I want to continue to expand into this glorious universe and grow grow grow!
Different people grow in different ways. Somehow I think that the growing that has felt most rapid and important has happened at moments when I was adventuring, or somewhere new, with someone new...
and I guess that's why I'm excited to finish work and sedentary life here in Ottawa, and spread my wings to fly once more.
Oh hey another thing 'bout this winter - I'm back in Carbon Debt! achem. That is, I went on a super fun cycling trip in Cuba with my dear friend Lindsay, and I've got another jaunt planned for some camping and hiking in California in March. I'm a lucky gal to have gotten/soon to get these mid-winter jolts of summer (though it's crazy how jolt like these journeys really are - planes are like a bit of a warp...) In interest of your time, and mine in fact, I'm not going to use this post to chat 'bout Cuba. But I will post some photos to get you imagining a wee bit about what it was like...
