In many ways, December is my favorite month. The days my be short and dark, the vibrant color of fall drained from the landscape, but they are also filled with friends, candlelight, and plenty of good food. Compared to last year, so far this December has been surprisingly warm and dry. During the week, the days passed quietly and slowly. As we near the solstice, the days are so short that even working from home, my only opportunity to get outside during daylight hours is at lunch. Usually the days fly by without my noticing, and by the time I think to go outside, it's already far too late. That makes the weekends this time of year all the more precious, and this one was spent well, visiting friends in Bellingham.
Read moreLife: Week 48
This was the week of Thanksgiving leftovers. Seriously, we had enough turkey, cranberry sauce, and brussels sprouts for a full week of dinners. Oddly, I never thought to document our drawn out Thanksgiving meal. I didn't think to document most of this week. I seem to have gone through the week in a turkey trance, although I do remember bits of the weekend, which was mostly spent catching up with friends in Seattle! I always feel a little disappointed when a week goes by without at least a little time spent hiking, but it was worth it to catch up with old friends. Obviously I need to get better at luring my friends out on hikes, so I can do both at the same time!
Read moreLife: Week 47
After an exhausting and hectic fall season at work, having four days off work for the holiday was absolutely blissful! There was plenty of time for catching up with family and friends, and enough leftover over for some much needed relaxation! For the first time, I also had the opportunity to get out for a hike on Black Friday. Since Andy was working, and there's already plenty of snow in the mountains, a short hike up Gold Creek Basin near my parents cabin seemed like the perfect option for a short outing.
Read moreLife: Week 46
Just when I thought fall was coming to an end, it decided to stick around for another beautiful, sunny weekend! The week started with a power outage Monday night, one of several we've had this year. Thankfully, our power was back on by Tuesday morning, so it wasn't too disruptive. With the power out, we spent Monday night reading by candlelight and playing card games - a nice break from our routine. Work has slowed down enough that I even had time for my first lunchtime walk since early summer! Considering the fact that the sun is down well before I finish my work day, these lunchtime walks will save my sanity during the dark days of late fall and early winter.
Read moreLife: Week 45
As the days grow shorter, it becomes more of a struggle to find the motivation to venture out of my burrow of knitting and books for some time in the woods. Thankfully, even when I can't commit to a full day of adventure, there are plenty of beautiful trails to visit close to home. Over this past weekend, Andy and I returned to a trail we hiked over the summer on Squak Mountain - Margaret's Way. Blanketed in a multi-colored carpet of leaves, the trail was truly magical. It had been a stormy week, with multiple power outages, so along with the thick layer of leaves, the trail was littered with storm debris, including a couple of freshly downed trees for us to climb over. Since it rained throughout our hike, we decided to keep our outing short, and made it back to Issaquah in time for a late lunch at our new favorite bar off I-90. Hopefully we'll have a few more weeks of this beautiful fall before the long, cold grey of winter in Washington settles in!
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