Z and I spent the last two to four weeks surrounded by our families: our immediate and extended families and our friend families. There are dozens of highlights and of course some lowlights from this time that we whole-heartedly embrace because we miss our loved ones constantly. The new year has not only brought us both back to the same city, after four weeks of being apart, but it has also seen us return completely recharged with life.
For me, the light switch flipped on the night of the solstice - I sat next to Chris' solstice tree and stared at the sun that danced on the ceiling above her candle vase. Outside the snow squeaked under foot it was so cold, yet I only felt the red hot energy returning to earth on the shortest day all year. It could have been the stress relief of letting 2009 go, like the vapor release off of a pressure cooker, warm and oddly comforting. The energy grew from there. Being an aunt again, playing music and dress up, skiing out my parent's back porch, creating and sharing meals together, learning Wii right along with my mom, road trips and reunions with the college friends, book and craft discussions, greenhouse tours, being towed off of I-94, snowball fights, birthday parties, neighborhood parties, and new years dance parties. Of course, this is the description of an extrovert's recharge;)
Frequently I wish I could bottle up MN and burn it like a candle whenever I need it. But, that's not possible, and not healthy to keep talking about how great life in MN is... Instead, this year we are bringing our enthusiastic MN hospitality to the east coast. We started with a 9 person dinner party with new and old friends (Mary S was here from Mpls). Z roasted the most amazing whole chicken in our oven, perched atop a beer can for several hours. The chicken was one of the 3 we killed last fall; it came out perfectly crisp on the outside and so juicy on the inside. It was the easiest party I have ever been to, the pot luck side dishes were completely complimentary and balanced, and the guests never wanted to leave. 7pm turned into 2 am in a flash. I have felt only positive omens from the start of 2010. May the sunfire burn this bright all year!
ps- apologies that there aren't more immediate family photos posted here;)
Frequently I wish I could bottle up MN and burn it like a candle whenever I need it. But, that's not possible, and not healthy to keep talking about how great life in MN is... Instead, this year we are bringing our enthusiastic MN hospitality to the east coast. We started with a 9 person dinner party with new and old friends (Mary S was here from Mpls). Z roasted the most amazing whole chicken in our oven, perched atop a beer can for several hours. The chicken was one of the 3 we killed last fall; it came out perfectly crisp on the outside and so juicy on the inside. It was the easiest party I have ever been to, the pot luck side dishes were completely complimentary and balanced, and the guests never wanted to leave. 7pm turned into 2 am in a flash. I have felt only positive omens from the start of 2010. May the sunfire burn this bright all year!
ps- apologies that there aren't more immediate family photos posted here;)
No comments:
Post a Comment