What do you do to make the most of winter?

I have always loved January. I love beginnings. With the beginning of a new year, there always seems an endless array of possibilities in January. For the most part, I don't make difficult resolutions, but I do try to use the creative energy I feel at this time of year to propel myself toward a better me. Last year I decided to go completely vegetarian. It was not difficult. As a matter of fact, as the year has progressed, I've become even more committed to it.

I enjoy being hunkered down in a warm kitchen or in our classroom, wearing my slippers, sipping tea, snuggling with the baby, reading or playing games with the older kids. I always find that the two weeks in January before classes resume at the college, before I begin working on the spring children's theatre production, make me really wish I could carry this contentment throughout the year.

So, I guess I use winter to recharge, to prepare for the rest of the year, when it seems that life is in overdrive. Even in the summer, when we frolic in the mountains for a couple of months, we are always on a schedule. I am so happy to look up over my morning coffee cup and see huge white spaces on the calendar!

So what does winter do for you? Share your thoughts if you like! We'd love to read them!

Happy Snow Day! Here's to the silence of a snowy world at midnight and the excuse you need to stay home and bake a batch of brownies!