Maple Weekend

Our family outing to the Arnot Woods to celebrate NYS Maple Weekend was just what my soul needed. Wandering in the woods always fills me and on this day especially it was such a feast for the senses. The gurgling snowy stream, the squelch of mud beneath our boots, the wind that roared through the treetops.

That wind carried the laughter of friends and the delightful smell of wood burning stoves and maple syrup reduction. The maple syrup cotton candy Ellie purchased with her very own money melted on our tongues and left a wonderfully woody, sweet taste in our mouths.

We strolled across bridges and traipsed up wet trails while the sun peeked out at us intermittently. The whole world on the verge of awakening - my spirit hungrily lapping it up. There is such promise in this time of year. Knowing there will yet be snows flurries, it is nonetheless thrilling to see the tiny buds on trees and watch the returning birds fly through the skies.

This weekend I learned that it takes the alternating freezing and thawing weather to swell the trees and let the sap flow. So too, I feel a stirring in myself at this time of year: Content at times to sit and sew but also needing desperately to wander in the woods, to have an adventure - to hear the birds and drink in the breeze. I feel so lucky to share this magical life with Joe and the girls. They are such examples to me of discovery and enjoyment of ordinary pleasures.

On this trip, Wren was the greatest explorer of all. Outfitted with her boots and and hat and binoculars, she wandered to her heart's content. And the sound of her songs (from the Frozen soundtrack of course) rode on the wind; landing in my heart already bursting with gratitude.

Let it go!