My Corner… My View of the World…

Do you ever wonder what your teacher’s house looks like?  When I was in 1st grade I through my teacher lived at school and slept on the tables.  I thought I would share my favorite corner with my view of the world…

Last Thursday we had a snow day and it was a perfect day.  No place to go and nothing I HAD to do… except read.  A day for me to snuggle into my corner in my comfortable gray chair, put my feet up and read the day away. I brewed a pot of very strong coffee and poured it into my favorite purplish-blue mug given to me by a student several years ago.  I had Molly curled at my feet and my fuzzy blanket to keep me warm.

I propped my current book, The Guinevere Deception, on to my lap desk and traveled off to Camelot the land of the fictional realm of King Arthur and his court.  The lap desk with yellow flowered fabric is old and not my style but it is a relic from when I was in high school that has traveled with me to every home I have lived in. It is a launching pad for stories I have both read and written through letters and journal entries.

From my gray chair I have traveled the world through books.  In the past week I have not only been to Camelot. I have also been on a sled dog race through Canada, in the Polish ghetto during World War II, I have been on a remote island with strange creatures, lost on a mountain in upstate New York, running through woods searching for a meteor while evading a band of criminals and I have dealt with the trials of being in middle school.  So much happens in my imagination while I turn the pages of my current book.

But, I also get to look out the front window and watch life in my little neighborhood go by.  I see my neighbors walking their dogs.  The kids on my street run back and forth rolling in the snow banks.  I also monitor the weather so I know when it is time to get out and start snow blowing or get out and take Molly for a walk.  On a nice day, the sun comes in and warms my body and spirit.

This is truly my favorite place.  Well… until the weather turns warm and I bring out my deck furniture.  Then, all of my writing, reading and imaginative travel operations shift outside and is accompanied by the chirping of birds and the scurry of squirrels.

 

 

Cross Country Ski Adventure

On Monday, December 30, 2019, I went to bed worried that I would miss the ideal time to go out and clear my driveway.  The forecast said that the snow would be changing to rain around 3 AM.  The best time to clear snow is before is changes over to rain but there was no way I was going out at 3 AM.

Early Tuesday morning, I peeked out my window and I was shocked and happy to see that it was STILL snowing… no rain!  I kept watching and eventually the snow just stopped.  I went out to snow blow and shovel and get everything cleaned up.  I like to play in the snow so I don’t mind cleaning up.  As I went about my snow clearing project I had an a-ha moment… I should be popping into my skis and getting out into the woods… ASAP!

Last winter I never got out on my skis because the snow changed to rain and froze every single storm we had.  I scrambled around my house looking for equipment that hadn’t been used in two years and gathered up my skis, poles and boots.  I dusted off my boots, slipped into them and headed outside.  I clicked into my skis and headed down the road… that’s right the road.  The plows hadn’t been through yet so I could ski to the trail head on the other side of my neighborhood.

When I got to the trail, I popped off my skis and followed someone else’s snow shoe tracks. The first part of the trail is to steep and risky to cross country ski.  In a few minutes I was at the access point for the trails on the old Navy base.  These trails are perfect for cross country skiing because they are wide and flat.

I was the first person out on the trails so I had to break the trail.  That is hard work so pretty soon I had worked up a sweat.  About a quarter of a mile in, I bumped into some other cross country skiers coming from the other direction.  We chatted a bit about how wonderful it was to be out skiing and shared information about trail conditions. As we moved on in our respective directions, my job got easier.  The other skiers had broken the trail and I could follow their tracks and get more of a glide going.

It was so beautiful kicking and gliding down the trail.  The trees were bent down with fresh snow which made the woods look like a winter wonderland.  Before I knew it, it was time to head back home.  I was exhilarated from the exercise, the cold and the beauty of the woods.