Slight Detour: Cold and Beautiful

I think there may actually be some agreement from people of all ages and persuasions here in our area.

While the fight continues locally about mask mandates, nobody should dispute that it was a truly beautiful day in North Idaho yesterday.

If all of winter could be like yesterday and today, I would never complain.

For those who don't live on farms, imagine pushing a cart filled with hay across a glistening white field in the bright moonlight.

There's crunch with every step while walking to and from the cart to distribute single flakes of hay around the field.

It's a breath-taking and wistful experience: could it please be like this during feeding time every morning?

If it were, maybe we'd take it for granted. If it were as beautiful as these days are every day, would that become mundane?

In my mind, NO!

These are my favorite days throughout the year because chores are easy, walking is easy.

Plus, it's really easy to stop a minute, take a deep breath and embrace the encompassing wonder that Mother Nature has dished out.

We can enjoy such moments in the moonlit dawn all by ourselves.

I love solitude, but I also love people.

So, when I saw both Colleen and Joan going opposite directions on our country road in yesterday's brilliant sunshine, I headed their way, as did the dogs.

Maybe Kiwi, Liam and Foster are getting a little tired of seeing the same ol' faces every day too.

They do love their role as the four-legged welcoming crowd.

While dogs inched their way closer to the road, only to have their mom "bark" at them to get back, trucks and cars rolled down the road passing in between Joan, who stood by the mailbox and Colleen who remained just inside our driveway.

We all reveled in our endorphin-enhanced day while enjoying a little roadside catch-up on each other's lives.

I count Joan and Colleen as members of "our pod."

It occurred to me the other day that the circle of humans with which I interact on a face-to-face basis has diminished significantly.

From a distance and now always masked, I see my sisters occasionally, our son and daughter-in-law, my neighbors in the Bode-Dickens family, Joan, Colleen and the staff members at Yoke's who bring my groceries to the car each week.

I also occasionally go into Co-Op on a quick run for animal supplies.

That's pretty much it.

Fortunately, there is one other: Mother Nature.

She does a nice job every so often to put our uplifted spirits on automatic pilot for a day or two.

And, on days like yesterday, the thought of wasting what's been given seems almost unforgiveable.

So, I made the most of my Tuesday with camera in hand, documenting exquisite scenes as I walked around our place and over at the Meserve Preserve.

Beauty in abundance---that was Dec. 1, 2020.

For that I am thankful.

I'm also thankful for the tech dimension of life where we can't meet in-person, but, at least, we can share our tales of life in Pandemic and keep up with each other.

Here in Selle this morning, we have another cold, beauty out there, so I'll probably make the most of it again.

Happy Tuesday. And, if the beauty outside isn't enough, we're looking for more beauty in action on the TV tonight.

GO, ZAGS!