Snow

We've had lots of snow this winter — and some pretty cold weather too. It's been February for about 60 days now. So last weekend, a bunch of my women friends and I decided there was only one logical thing to do. We drove north into the mountains.

Thankfully, the roads were plowed, even the gravel road that winds through the woods until it reaches the shore of the lake. Well, we think it was a gravel road: we were driving on hard-packed snow that looked so clean and white that we knew we were the first car to drive down in that day. That whole weekend, we saw no one else, except snow mobiles on the other side of the lake, all traveling along what seemed to be one straight path, and white-tailed deer, who paused to look at us curiously as we went by.

We stayed in a lovely lakeside house lent to us by a friend's sister. I kept the fire going in the big stone fireplace while my friends got busy in the kitchen and made more food than seven people could possibly eat. We filled ourselves with lentil soup, slices of fresh fruit, fresh garlic bread with hot tomato sauce, an elaborate salad, and vegan Key Lime pie. After a lazy lunch by the fire, we bundled up to go out into the snowy world, walking through the winding trails and eventually out onto the frozen lake. 

It's a wonderful way to spend a weekend in February: talking with close friends, hiking in the most beautiful woods, playing silly games, and making food together.