The afternoon light.

A lot of that list was me looking forward to things that happen in warmer weather. Truth is, we endure the winter because we live here and winter is part of the living here. We don't really have things that we look forward to during winter that aren't attached to holidays, birthdays, etc., like we do with warmer weather (gardening, State Fair, running in tank tops, flip flops, sun hats, playing outside).

So instead we look around for things to appreciate, things to admire, simple beauty. Something I've deeply studied in the two and a half winters that we've lived here is the light. Mostly the sad fact that there isn't much of it, especially of any good quality, all winter long. But when we do get a sunny day, the light that shines inside is warm. It isn't of the flood-the-room variety that you get during the summer. It's more like a warm spotlight that you dance in and out of, nap in, wake up to. In the summertime, we miss all these moments of light because we're so busy with those activities, and when we're done with them, we come in and sleep and that's when the light acts this winter way. In these cold days on end that we remain indoors, I am at the very least watching the light and how my children look inside of it.