Go with all of your heart

Yesterday’s sunset

My Yogi Tea tag wisdom for the day is:

Wherever you go, go with all of your heart.

I would add to that:

And listen to your body.

The pond is officially open for ice skating and sledding or just walking around on the ice.

I went out early for my walk today, just as the sun was coming up from behind the trees across the road.  It’s interesting how aware I’ve become of the position of the sun.  I guess I was so busy looking at other things over the past two years that I didn’t pay much attention to the sun itself.  For those interested in such factoids, sunrise in the Bogs is now around 7:52 am, and sunset happens around 5:10 pm.  The infant days will soon be toddlers.

Sunrise on the trees

It was a chilly 4.3 degrees (F) when I stepped outside.  I was bundled up, including two pairs of socks, one pair of gloves, and one pair of mittens.  My fingers and toes always take the worst of the cold.  The chill just seems to find a way inside my mittens and then inside of my gloves.  The rest of me stays nice and toasty.  My snow pants and ski jacket are so warm that I end up sweating, even when the temperature is below zero.

Frosty morning

Sometimes, when the temperature is below zero, my fingertips will become cold, numb up a bit, and then get warm again which means all is well.  Other times, like today, my fingertips hurt with the cold, and become so numb I can’t feel what I’m doing and end up pressing all the wrong buttons on the camera.  By the time it gets to that point, it means a painful warm up when I get back inside.

The light grows brighter

It takes a little while to figure out which way it’s going to go.  Will it be normal warmth and feeling or numbness and pain?  No matter how well I prepare, I manage to practically freeze my fingers at least once each winter (with the exception of last winter when it didn’t get cold enough).

Highlights

My fingers (and toes) are fine now, but it was not a pleasant warm-up.  I am thankful nobody was here to witness and listen to me as the feeling came back.  It was not pretty.  I hereby vow to find a better pair of gloves.  Or come inside as soon as I recognize the numbness that refuses to go away.

Illume

The problem, of course, is that I don’t pay attention to what my body is telling me.  I get wrapped up in the beauty of the frost and snow sparkling in the sunlight, the crisp and almost biting scent of the air, and the crunch of the ice and snow underfoot.

Splendor in the meadow

I become absorbed in the sunlight, chasing it around the woods and the meadows…

Igniting the day

…watching as it streaks across the snow.

Coming around the corner

I stop to listen to the birds as they begin their day and flock to the feeders or go looking for seeds around the edge of the pond and in the meadows.

Seeds of light

And I become dazzled by winter’s sparkle and glow on everything, including on the fence around the garden.

Even chicken wire looks beautiful in the winter

The world is full of poetry.  The air is living with its spirit; and the waves dance to the music of its melodies, and sparkle in its brightness.

~ James Gates Percival

Wave of light

That’s it from the Bogs for today.  Snow will be arriving later with a weak clipper that’s going to move through.  The prediction is that we’ll get more snow from the lake-effect machine (Lake Erie) after the clipper moves through than we’ll get from the clipper itself.

A glow-glow

Thank you for joining me on my early morning walk.  I hope you stayed warm and toasty on this frosty day (or cool if things are warming up where you are).

String theory

Have a delightful day, evening, night… wherever and whenever you are on the spectrum of time.  🙂

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