(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday: Maine Snow Days

For those of us living in places where "snow" means a few wet flakes that disappear within hours, if not minutes, here is a snowy treat courtesy of my mom's backyard in Maine. Now this is winter. Do I miss it? I'm surprised to say I do.

Winter Chic

Winter always poses clothing challenges for me. I strive to look like this:

But more often than not, I look like this:

I'd like to blame my problem on spending the past three winters in country where cold weather gear was only occasionally required. Sure you needed to throw on a heavier coat every once in a while but the rest of the time a lighter jacket or even a sweater would suffice. I really think my blood thinned and now that I am living in a colder (not cold by many standards but colder to me) and very damp environment I find myself struggling to be comfortable, warm and dare I say, fashionably age appropriate. But honestly, my problems with winter clothing started years ago.

I grew up in New England which is the land of LL Bean fleece, wool sweaters and layers. Lots of layers. I don't remember a time when going outside in the winter didn't require layer upon layer of increasingly bulky clothing. Childhood memories include feeling like a stuffed sausage in my winter coat and the dreaded winter where my teacher (for her ease rather than our comfort) made us keep our snow pants on all day. Between the overheated sweaty feeling and the rustle of nylon I would just count the minutes until the warm weather returned. As an adult I initially shunned any winter clothing that was too bulky, cumbersome or left me with that sausage-like feeling. The more fashion forward clothing I saw did nothing to keep away the winter chill. Unfortunately, I found myself being cold a lot.

And now I am an adult who is once again living in a cold weather climate. I've been experimenting with various combinations of fleece, wool and down jackets jet I always feel too bundled up and bulky for my taste. I look at the other moms during school drop off and they all see at ease and comfortable with their attire. Whereas I look frumpy, the women from the Scandinavian and Baltic countries look stylish wearing their fleece (it probably helps that they are all tall and thin to begin with). Those hailing from warmer weather Mediterranean countries are layered and wrapped to the hilt yet they don't have that sausage look that I do whenever I don half as many clothes. So what is their secret? I wish I knew.

I've spent copious hours scanning the internet and perusing local stores in search of the perfect warm yet appropriate clothing for the season but I'm about to give up. So if you see a swaddled wooly mammoth looking person walking down the street you will probably find me underneath the bundle of fleece and down. I might not be comfortable but at least I am warm. How many days is it until spring arrives?

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday: Winter

Because we are in the dead of winter and I have yet to see any real snow, I'm thinking of snowy winters of past:

Bring On The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

With October behind us, we can now charge towards Thanksgiving and Christmas at full speed.  Sure some retailers have been flaunting turkeys and Santa alongside Halloween candy but now that the later is relegated to the sale bins, we can focus our energies on what I consider to be the real end of year holidays.  It now feels acceptable to open the holiday editions of my favorite culinary magazines that have been filling my mailbox for months.  My oven is beginning to work overtime as pumpkins that were once destined for jack-o-lanterns can now be turned into pies, breads, and other delectable treats.  Air conditioning has been swapped for heat and skimpy warm weather clothing exchanged for cozy sweaters.  The days are shorter, Daylight Savings Time ended in Europe last week with the States falling back early tomorrow morning, but for me the early darkness just makes me more productive.  (After all it feels as though I have even less time to get more accomplished).  Colorful foliage is giving way to bare trees that have their own special winter beauty and cooler air hints at the real possibility of snowflakes.  People are more generous with their time, energies, and money as charities ask for donations to assist those in need.   How can anyone argue with this?  I'm pouring over my cookbooks and planning my Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner menus, digging out my sweaters, and plotting my holiday gift giving strategy.  In case you can't tell, I love this time of year and the next few weeks promise to be my favorite ones of the entire year.

And yes, because it is November it is NaBloPoMo, the month where aspiring bloggers are encouraged to write each and every day.  I've dabbled with NaBloPoMo over the course of the past year with some months being more successful than others but this November I'm recommitting to the effort.  So from now until the end of the month, look for a daily update either on this blog or my second blog dedicated to my culinary exploits.  That's thirty entries in thirty days but I can do it.  After all, this is my favorite time of year so I'm sure to have a lot to talk about.

A Rubber Ducky In The Snow

With the exception of a few very cold minutes at the top of the Zugspitz in Germany this past Christmas, Sidney has never really experienced snow.  He knows what it is since he can see it on the tops of the nearby mountains, but he has never truly experienced it in its purest form.  Both Glenn and I had grown up playing in the snow; snowball fights, building snow forts, skiing, and sledding were all a part of our winter childhoods.  This weekend we decided Sidney needed to learn what this is all about.  (Glenn also wanted to test out our new-to-us vehicle (a.k.a. the rubber ducky) which would supposedly enable us to reach parts of Albania that our old car prevented us from visiting).  And so we set out.

We bumped and bounced our way out of Tirana and over the mountains west of the City on a combination of roads that were narrow and newly paved, newly paved and already deteriorating, and dirt and rock filled paths that hardly constitute as roads.  We passed mountainside villages, grazing sheep, large expanses of barren, rock filled land, and icy mountain streams.  As usual the scenery outside of the urban areas was amazing and reminded me that far from the crowds, traffic, and mounds of trash, this really is a wild and beautiful country.  From his perch on the backseat Sidney commented on the animals in the road---donkeys, sheep, chickens, and yes a cow that raced us up a hill--- and also pointed out that there were lots of rocks everywhere.  Albania is indeed a harsh and rocky place.

All it took was climbing out of a river valley and up into the mountains for the road to instantly turn from paved to rutted with rocks.  In one moment there were only traces of snow and in the next all we could see was where the "road" was supposed to be was an endless snow covered countryside.  Bouncing along was kind of fun and reminiscent of IPMT but not knowing what was actually under the snow, yet imagining the possibilities, made the going very slow.  Until we couldn't go any further.  Our vehicle finally met her match when the uneven surface below the snow, combined with the mountains of snow we had been plowing through, prevented us from continuing on our journey.   This is when we really began to enjoy the snow.

It took some convincing to get Sidney out of the car but once he felt the snow under his feet he was immediately entranced.  He ran back and forth across the open area yelling that "Sidney is running in the snow!"  Someone living in a snow filled area might not understand his excitement but for the first time, rather than watching the snow from afar, Sidney was experiencing what it felt like to walk and run in the snow.  The snow cushioned his falls and allowed him to immediately pick himself up and continue on his way.  (My strange little boy, however, did not like the snow sticking to his pants).  He shrieked with delight as he watched Glenn form snowballs and throw them at the surrounding trees and quickly tried to emulate him.  (We do have a family understanding that snowballs are never to be thrown at Mamma).  Sidney's fleecy mittens didn't allow the snowballs to easily be launched but through perserverence he finally found a way.  Hitting the trees was an impossible challenge, but the parked car proved to be the perfect target.

Not wanting to be out in the boonies as darkness fell, we didn't stay as long as we would have liked to.  A few tears were shed as we returned to the car and bounced our way back towards Tirana but Sidney's tears soon returned to joy as he prattled away about all things snow.  We heard the narrative of how Sidney had been running in the snow, throwing snow, and playing in the snow.  Unprompted, Sidney informed us that the day had been fun.  Watching Sidney discover the snowy world around him reminded me that this is what childhood is supposed to be about.  We don't need to take plane rides to the world's great cities, ride trains through the mountains,  or spend money the latest gizmos and gadgets.  Time spent together as a family and a simple snowball thrown in one's "backyard" is truly the most enjoyable and memorable aspects of childhood.

Making snowballs

Glenn demonstrating how throwing a snowball is done

The car made an easier target

Trying to figure out why the snowball sticks to his mittens when he tries to throw it

Glenn demonstrates making a snow angel; Sidney would have nothing to do with this