Last weekend was not simply cold, but what I'd call frigid -- the forecast for Ludlow called for a low of -17 and a high of 12 degrees. I was heading north to ski with family and friends and was thinking, after hearing the weather report, "a cup of coffee (or even better, hot mulled wine) in front of the roaring fire, wrapped in a furry blanket seems so much more appropriate... As I lay tucked comfortably under the down comforter in my room, I secretly thought, "I'll be lucky if I last a half hour out there on the snow clad slopes of the Green Mountains. Why even go?"
But the day nudged its way around the edges of the my drawn blinds and beckoned me to open them up. To my wonder, a sun-drenched, glorious blue sky called, "Come on out -- I'll not bite." So I went, layered in wool and down, and was met with the sparkling clear beauty that only comes in the winter. There was joy in the journey, "sister laughter" and , yes, even warmth on those frozen mountaintops at Okemo.
I'm so very grateful that I went, even if the thermometer suggested "stay". Afterall, when I returned to the Inn, the wine was still waiting and the fire was still burning!
