Holiday wishes from our house to yours

And thank you for a wonderful first year on Substack

Savoring a white Christmas for the first time in years

Our December here in upstate New York has been both frigid and snowy. The last few days - the temperature did not warm up past 10 degrees (F) during the day and the windchills were even colder.

Going outside was brutal…..I had to stick to indoor workouts which I find dreadful. I want to be outside - skiing, running, hiking - getting my heart rate up makes me feel better. And I think better.

The upside to this - a white Christmas! Usually we get some snow in December and then it melts by Christmas. Today - Christmas Eve - it is supposed to be a balmy 37 degrees and it snowed overnight. We are heading out the door soon to ski. Finally.

Below - the view from our front porch during a recent snowfall. Just gorgeous.

Catching up on my writing - reflections on 2024 and moving on to 2025

When December comes, I like to reflect on the year - what went well and did not go well as far as trips, adventures, community involvement, family gatherings and my writing. With inspiration from Sarah Lavender Smith and others, I am working through that now. I hope to share that with you soon.

Thank you for a wonderful year on Substack

I have certainly learned a lot this year. I realize that the journey has just begun. I have made a lot of new Substack friends who continue to inspire me everyday - so much so that I spend a lot of time reading and absorbing phenomenal writing by you.

Happy Holidays to all of you.

Below - A frozen morning on Woods Lake in the southern Adirondacks - taken just last week.

Somewhere along the way, you realize that no one will teach you how to live your own life — not your parents or your idols, not the philosophers or the poets, not your liberal arts education or your twelve-step program, not church or therapy or Tolstoy. No matter how valuable any of that guidance, how pertinent any of that wisdom, in the end you discover that you make the path of life only by walking it with your own two feet under the overstory of your own consciousness — that singular miracle never repeated in all the history and future of the universe, never fully articulable to another. - Maria Popova