New Year, Same Place

The start of a new year is always greeted with much fanfare - we strive to achieve what we haven't, work to maintain what we have, and make goals to better ourselves. I've got the first two down pretty well, but I often struggle with the third. Making goals is easy - it's the whole "keeping them up til they are a habit" that gives me a hard time.

To kick off the new year, I've decided to start simple - a goal to enjoy what I see every day living here, and share it with those who are interested. Even the smallest things have fascinating aspects to them, and I've learned that sharing with others brings me joy.

Last Sunday, my friend and I went out snowshoeing. I've gone a couple times before with her and always had a good time (except the time we picked a game trail to follow instead of the ACTUAL trail - haha). We are incredibly lucky that the neighborhood we call home has plenty of open tract "wilderness" that we can tromp through - without fear of getting lost. As we were moving along, I began to notice that every solid surface - trees, last summer's weeds, telephone poles, fallen limbs, even the snow - was covered in a beautiful layer of hoar frost. Hoar frost, as noted by Oxford Dictionary, is a "grayish-white crystalline deposit of frozen water vapor formed in clear still weather..." These beautiful examples were clear crystals in layer after layer, row after row. Sparkling in the meager sunshine, and sounding of tinkling glass as you ran your hand through it.

So to kick off this new year, and my goal of sharing even the smallest things that bring me joy, I leave you with a few photos of our 2.3 mile journey that day.