Weekly Update: 1.11.25

The snow fell softly Friday morning as my sisters and I booted up for an early walk. We had awakened to a whitened world with more snow than we have ever seen on our homestead. It called us into itself, and we couldn't help answering.

It wasn't a long walk. Grace and I both got sick again this week, so we didn't want to over do. But we enjoyed our stroll to the spring, letting the snowflakes fall on our faces. After weeks of sickness and too much time indoors, the walk felt like an act of freedom. And we were more than rewarded. Our woods were simply magical, and we all felt as if we were bathing in beauty. The soft crunch of snow under our feet took us back to growing up in north Idaho, where we had snow several months of the year. One reason we chose to live in this part of the Ozarks is the occasional good snows we get. Experiencing it this week felt like a little piece of our dream coming true.

There isn't much to tell about our week. We got sick again -- either with a new germ or relapses of the last one, with higher fevers and worse coughs than before. I was thankful we managed to get our wood stove installed last week, as we kept a fire burning every day as we had one winter storm after another. Between taking care of each other, we kept up our camp chores. I did a lot of year-end book keeping. Bonnie-Jean helped split wood when the menfolk were working or sick. Grace spent a lot of time helping care for our dogs, who struggle with being cooped up so much. That is about all we accomplished -- and that's OK. As Grace and I bemoaned our general lack of productivity this week, we also gave thanks for this lifestyle and it's ability to flex around the human condition. Sometimes people get sick. Sometimes you get snowed in. It's all a part of the natural world. We worked together and got done what needed to be done -- And that is enough.

So until next week, here is a glimpse of our little winter wonderland.